


In the Human World

by DayFiction83 (Haruka_S_Knight)



Series: Adventures of the B.G.C. [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Lumity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 58,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26165980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haruka_S_Knight/pseuds/DayFiction83
Summary: Post Season 1! Luz, Amity, and King find themselves in the Human world after a failed infiltration of the Emperor’s Castle. Luz and Amity must keep a low profile in the human world as Eda, Lilith, Edric, and Emira work on a solution to their lack of a portal.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: Adventures of the B.G.C. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014294
Comments: 252
Kudos: 826
Collections: The Owl House





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> For SydTheShipper: Sorry this first chapter isn't as long as I had planned. Please leave feedback if you are inclined to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 13SEPT2020 I have made some minor edits to the first chapter to fix missing accent marks on a word in Spanish.

In the Human World:  
Intro

It had been a very tiring and emotional week for Luz Noceda. From the moment she decided to try to steal that hat in the Emperor’s Castle, all the way to where she found herself right now. Her mother eyed her, not unkindly but with definite questions, as she sat beside Amity on the couch in their home. That portion really did not feel real to Luz right now, she was actually home. She could have drifted into some other thoughts, but she felt Amity take her hand and squeeze it. Luz wanted to be sorry that Amity was away from her world and family, but at the moment she really couldn’t be. After all, having the teal haired witch there with her was helpful to her battered emotional state right now.

“Cariño, I’m waiting.” Her mother gave her a patient look and reminded her of the most important question. “Why are you back from Camp early?”

“The cabins had a plumbing problem and uh.” Luz rubbed her neck with her free hand as she tried to think quickly. “And they all flooded so everyone had to go home!”

“Doesn’t your friend . . .” Here she paused to look at Amity who gave a weak smile from her side. “What’s your name, sweety?”

“Amity Blight, Mrs. Noceda.” The young witch sounded much the way she would when addressing one of her teachers, she seemed more confident than Luz for a moment.

“Amity, dear, do your parents know you’re here?” Camila leveled a disarming smile at the young witch.

“I. . .” Amity trailed off looking conflicted and Luz blurted the first thing which came to mind.

“They kicked her out, Mami!” She said this and suddenly all eyes were on her. King, sitting near her feet and poorly pretending to be a dog gently kicked her when nothing followed for a moment. Luz glanced at Amity again, before looking to her mother. As was common when she got really nervous Luz suddenly started speaking Spanish rapidly. She was not thinking, she was just speaking. “Ella es lesbiana y se enteraron. Llegaron al campamento y le dijeron que ya no era su hija, y luego la dejaron. Intentamos llamar pero no responden y es muy doloroso para ella, así que le dije que podía quedarse con nosotros. ¡Por favor mamá! (She’s a lesbian and they found out. They came to camp and told her she was no longer their daughter, and then they left her. We tried to call but they don’t answer and it’s really painful for her so I told her she could stay with us. Please Mom!)”

“Cariño, no podemos quedarnos con ella. (Sweetie, we can’t just keep her.)” Camila said as she moved to sit to Luz’s right and hug her. “You have a good heart, but if her parents come looking for her Amity will have to go home with them.”

“They, uh, they won’t come looking for me.” Amity said, looking down at the cast which still covered her right foot and lower leg. She had missed at least half of what the mother and daughter said, but she knew there was no chance her parents would show up on the Noceda’s doorstep. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

Camila Noceda looked from one girl to the other, and Luz was giving her the most desperate look she had ever seen. Amity kept her gaze down, looking for all the world like a lost little girl. . . And Camila noticed that the girls were holding hands as if afraid the other would be ripped away from them if they let go. She sighed, turning her eyes from the girls to the rather unfortunate dog sitting by their feet. Questions about his strange appearance could wait for now, she supposed.

“You’ll have to share your room, Cariño.” She cautioned and both girls were suddenly looking to her with hope in their eyes. Camila tilted her head and really took in Amity and squinted slightly as she noticed her ears. The teal haired girl was wearing a cloak and the hood had finally slipped off exposing her pointed ears and letting the light really catch in her golden eyes. Those eyes widened and Amity reached for the cloak’s hood, but Camila smiled at her. “You don’t have to hide, Amity.” Camila smiled. “I’ve seen my share of odd birth defects, sweety.”

“Yeah. . . Ha ha ha.” Luz’s laugh was less then convincing, and she squeezed Amity’s hand, hoping she’d keep playing along. “She uh, is a little shy about her ears Mami. I, uh, I tried to tell her they’re cute, but I don’t think Amity believes me.”

“Oh, yes, I’m really shy about my ears.” Amity agreed, blushing slightly at hearing Luz use the word cute in reference to her. She pushed some hair behind her ear and nervously smiled again. “It’s a family trait, happens a lot to us Blights.”

“Well don’t you worry dear, you’re such a pretty girl.” Camila said this in the tone any doting mother would use, and Luz got to witness genuine surprise wash over Amity’s face. She shot the young witch a grin, before the elder Noceda tapped her shoulder. “Let’s go get the folding bed and get it set up in your room.” Camila glanced at King again and sighed. “And Luz, don’t forget to walk Amity’s dog. She shouldn’t be walking him alone with that cast.”

“Yes, Mami.” Luz hopped up and all but danced from the room.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

An hour or so and a quick dinner later Luz and Amity were alone in Luz’s room. Amity sat on the end of the folding guest bed and her golden eyes took their time roving the room. Her eyes were lingering on an Azura the Good Witch poster when Luz dropped to sit beside her. Amity bit her lip, not turning to meet the human teen’s eyes in an effort to avoid blushing any harder than she suddenly was. The young witch cast about her mind for a topic and finally remembered what she wanted to ask.

“What exactly did you tell your mother about me down there?” Amity asked and she could literally sense Luz tensing beside her. She turned and looked at her, curiosity overriding her normal reaction for the moment. “Luz, what did you tell her?”

“I said you’re a lesbian and got disowned.” Luz admitted, wincing, and clearly expecting a negative reaction. After a few beats of silence Luz relaxed and realized Amity still looked curious. “Amity?”

“What’s a lesbian?” The teal haired girl asked, and Luz’s shock was easily read on her face.

“Uh, a girl who only dates girls.” Luz supplied and saw Amity raise an eyebrow. “Do they not have a term for that on the Boiling Isles?”

“Uh, no, no we don’t.” Gold eyes averted again to the poster as she mulled the answer in her mind. “In the isles no one really worries about who you love, not in that manner. Is that a big deal here?”

“Yes. . . I mean not here with my Mom and I.” Luz seemed to be tripping over her words. “A lot of humans are fine about it, but the ones that aren’t are really um. . .” She sort of waved her hands helplessly. “Some people just don’t understand and kind of don’t want to.”

“And how did you know your mother wouldn’t mind?” Amity heard Luz mutter something, vaguely sounding like Spanish, before she answered.

“I’ve kind of always crushed on boys and girls equally, and Mom never had a problem with it. I love my Mami.” They were saved further need to discuss it as King basically bolted into the room, quickly hiding under Luz’s bed.

“Hide me!” He loudly whispered from the shadows under the bed. Amity and Luz exchanged a look before Luz moved to the floor beside her bed, only able to see King’s eyes in the shadows. She did not need to ask because King spoke with out prompting. “What is wrong with humans? Why do you all treat me like a baby and coo at me?”

Amity tried to cover her laugh by faking a cough, but King clearly heard her because he half heartedly growled. All that did was cause both girls to laugh at the poor demon’s plight. This was not what either girl thought she would be doing, say a week ago, but for the night at least things were alright.

“Go to bed girls!” Camila called up the stairs.

“Light’s out I guess.” Luz said.


	2. Avalanche

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am working from the assumption that Amity is a year older than Luz, which would put her at 15. The reason for that has mostly to do with the fact that in "Wing It Like Witches" Amity states that she was the previous team captain, and describes playing against another High School in a championship, yet the current season just started meaning that should have been at least a year ago. That said I am basically going to peg Amity as equivalent to a high school Sophomore and Luz as a Freshmen. 
> 
> Please leave a quick comment after you read.

In the Human World:  
Avalanche

The next morning came far too early in Luz’s opinion, as she was very quietly shaken by her mother. Camila Noceda placed a finger to her lips, telling her daughter to be quiet and nodding toward the guest bed where Amity was still asleep. Luz sat up, stretching as she looked over at her friend and couldn’t help but smile. Amity must have been really tired because she seemed to be sleeping very deeply, and her face was so relaxed. Luz didn’t think she’d ever seen her look so at peace, and with her hair mussed from sleep she looked so beautiful Luz wanted to snap a picture with her phone. Camila tapped Luz’s shoulder and gestured to King, who was awake but didn’t look like he’d stay that way. Camila pantomimed walking with her hand and Luz nodded. Her mother kissed her forehead and slipped quietly from the room, dressed for work which told Luz they’d be alone for hours.

Twenty minutes later Luz and a very grouchy, sleepy, King were walking around the block. King managed to remember to stay on all fours and Luz just enjoyed how the morning air was cool, knowing the Texas sun would change that sooner rather than later. Her mind wasn’t on their walk, it was going through a million other thoughts. Was Eda okay? Was Lilith okay? (Granted, she was still mad at the elder Clawthorne but for Eda’s sake she hoped the dark-haired witch was okay) How were she and Amity going to get back? Why did Lilith think this was a good idea? Did she think it was a good idea? How had Belos gotten even a portion of the portal working again? What did he want with her world?

“I am not peeing out here, I don’t care how many laps you make me do.” King’s quiet grumble brought Luz back to the present, and she looked down at the irate little demon. He was mimicking the way a dog sits, but his yellow and purple eyes were fixed on her in a glare. Slowly she realized they had passed the house and were most of the way around the block again.

“Sorry buddy, a lot on my mind today.” Luz knelt down, scooping King into her arms and squeezing him in a tight hug. He relaxed into her shoulder and she just stood back up carrying him. They were nearly home when a woman stopped her with a very concerned look.

“Oh my god! Is your puppy okay? Do you need a ride to the vet?” She asked and Luz almost didn’t realize what she was talking about. Her last question though made it more obvious. “It’s poor head, what happened?”

“Oh! He’s fine!” Luz smiled awkwardly but the woman looked unconvinced, so she knew she had to offer more than that. “When he was still a little puppy he was in a bad accident with a car. His skull and the skin over it was really badly damaged, but a really great dog rescue came up with the idea to 3D print him a new skull. He doesn’t know any different, he’s had outer skulls his entire life.”

“Why? I mean why did they give him horns?” The lady sounded a little more convinced but still eyed King, who just ignored her and slept on Luz’s shoulder.

“One of the volunteers was a Digimon fan and it was meant to look like a strong character. Ha ha ha.” Luz’s laugh was very fake but for some reason the lady accepted the explanation and finally wished Luz a good day. When they got back Luz wasn’t sure she’d ever been so happy to close and lock the door behind her.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Amity Blight, normally an early riser, was not eager to wake that morning. When she first woke she almost forgot where she was and why. Her surroundings began to filter into her consciousness and she almost panicked, before her golden eyes landed on the Azura poster and she remembered she was in Luz’s bedroom. In the Noceda house. In the Human World. The young witch groaned, pulling a pillow over her face and wishing it had been a strange dream. While Amity normally felt an overwhelming mixture of giddy excitement and nervous fear at being around Luz, right now she felt lost and afraid. Being a Blight, she tended to balk at the very idea of showing fear, but as a teen witch she was so lost at having been thrown through a portal into some other world.

“What was Lilith thinking?” Amity muttered into the pillow, frustrated with her mentor at just the thought of her hand in this incident.

“I wish I knew.” Luz’s voice startled Amity, causing her to jerk upright in bed and accidentally throw the pillow in a random direction. The human’s kind brown eyes went wide, and Amity felt her face burning again even as she started to chuckle nervously. Oblivious as ever to her effect on the other girl Luz came over and took a seat on the edge of the guest bed, before reaching out to hold Amity’s hand. “Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare ya. I thought you heard me come back in.”

“Ha ha, no I . . .” Amity lost her voice when she felt Luz’s thumb brush against her knuckles. Her face felt so hot she was afraid she might actually glow red this time, and she forced a nervous smile onto her lips. Luz seemed distracted staring at her and it was almost a nice moment, if Amity’s heart would stop trying to beat out of her chest. The human suddenly smiled and reached forward, tucking a strand of hair behind Amity’s pointed ear and the young witch jumped where she sat. Whatever had been going through the human girl’s mind she jolted away as well, already moving to give her friend some space.

“Oh, Amity, I’m sorry.” Luz gave her a sweet, apologetic smile. “I wasn’t thinking, your hair just looks really pretty down.”

“What?” Amity automatically reached up and ran a hand through her teal and brown locks, realizing she’d completely forgotten it was down. She felt embarrassed, because no one wants their crush to see them first thing after waking up, but also excited because Luz said it was pretty.

“You should wear it down more often.” Luz grinned before standing up and stretching. “So, I just wanted to see if you were awake. I’m going to make us some breakfast, just tell me if you need any help. Okay?”

“I, yeah, uh thanks.” Amity smiled shyly back at her and Luz literally walked backwards toward the bedroom door.

“I’ll come get you when breakfast is ready.” Luz said, her tone strangely nervous.

“Right.” Amity watched the human girl finally turn at the door, only to turn back and offer her a wink.

“And I mean it, you look really nice with your hair down.” Luz must have planned to flee with that remark, because she was gone before Amity even comprehended. The teen witch felt her heart nearly stop and wasn’t sure how much more of this kind of thing she could handle. She groaned again and fell backward onto the bed.

“Titan help me, I am so hopeless.” Amity muttered.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

In the Boiling Isles a pair of green haired twins approached the Owl House under the mid-morning sun. Emira and Edric Blight were mostly happy with the changes they’d seen in their sister since she met Luz Noceda, but the current situation was not ideal. The twins were groggy, having barely slept at all the night before. As they walked Emira pulled out her scroll and began typing another message to Amity, trusting her twin to ensure she didn’t walk into anything along the way.

{Hey Mittens, where are you? Ed and I are worried. Send us a message when you see this.} Emira sighed as she hit send and felt her brother’s arm slip across her shoulders.

“Maybe she finally confessed to Luz and they fell asleep cuddling.” Edric didn’t even sound convinced as he said this. Emira put her scroll away and patted his hand in thanks for trying to ease her mind all the same.

“Who goes there? Hoot!” Hooty popped from the ground in front of the two and the twins jumped back away from the strange house guardian thing. Edric and Emira straightened up at almost the same moment, and Hooty tilted his head at them. “Oh, I remember you! Hoot. You came with the angry one!”

“Yeah.” Edric laughed slightly, he hadn’t forgotten what his baby sister did to this creature. “That’s Amity, and actually we’re looking for her.”

“Yesterday she said she was coming to see Luz, but she didn’t come home.” Emira picked up, smiling disarmingly at Hooty as Edric moved to lean on his sister’s shoulder.

“She is here, isn’t she?” Edric asked and if possible, it almost seemed like Hooty was frowning. It was strange as his face couldn’t actually frown, but in some odd way they could feel the frown.

“I’ll get Eda, hoot hooty hoot!” Hooty retracted back into the ground and the twins eyed the hole left behind uneasily. Their golden eyes met, and they shared a very worried look.

“The bird tube knows something.” Edric stated the obvious and Emira nodded toward the Owl House just beyond the next group of trees.

“Let’s go find out what.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“You what?!” Emira’s voice jumped in volume as Eda and Lilith finished explaining what happened the previous evening. Edric was speechless, just gaping at the two elder witches as if they were a creature he’d never seen before.

“At the time it seemed the only way to protect them.” Lilith said in something close to the imperious tone she’d once used to issue orders to the Emperor’s Coven. “There was simply no way to get to them before Belos did.”

“Lily, you blasted the ground out from under them with a glyph Luz taught you!” Eda yelled at her sister in exasperation and it seemed the twins were momentarily forgotten.

“It was more powerful than I intended, and I didn’t actually intend them to fly through the portal.” Lilith did seem far more chagrin as she rubbed at her forehead, appearing to be in pain. “What would you have had me do, sister? Perhaps we should have waited for Belos to . . .”

“Luz has already faced Belos before!” Eda crossed her arms and glared at her elder sister. “And frankly, your protégé is far more powerful than she was a few months ago. It seems like a little faith in the kids would have worked better than tossing them through a magic portal.”

“Excuse me.” Edric turned his gold eyes to watch his twin sister. Her tone was polite right now, but it was in a manner that screamed danger to her twin. Emira was not smiling, she was definitely more tense than she normally stood, and there was no missing the glare she was leveling at the two supposed adults standing before them. Eda and Lilith continued to bicker and Edric stepped a bit away from his sister, before covering the ear closest to her with a hand. Emira’s voice rang off the walls of the Owl House this time, and they even heard Hooty make a scared sound from the outside of the door. “Hey!”

Eda fell silent, turn her eyes and a surprised expression toward the teen witch. Lilith stepped back, looking as if she half expected to be attacked, and based on the glare on Emira’s normally relaxed and cheerful face that was a real possibility. If looks could kill both Clawthorne sisters would be dead where they stood. “How do two grown witches, supposed responsible ADULTS, take a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old to fight the Emperor of the Titan Blessed Boiling Isles?! What in Titan’s name were you thinking?! Do you even know where that portal leads?!”

“Oh, the human world.” Edric said this suddenly and all eyes turned toward him. He held up his scroll, showing them what was apparently a sudden string of messages from Amity.

“Oh, her scroll is working, this is a very good thing.” Lilith immediately regretted the comment as Emira’s gold eyes moved back to glaring at the former coven leader.

“What else does the kid say?” Eda asked and Emira relaxed slightly, moving instead to peer with her brother at his scroll as he reviewed the messages. The way they were written it didn’t sound like she’d received their messages before she wrote these.

{Hey Ed and Em. Um, I don’t actually know if this message will reach you, but Luz used to be able to message her mother so I’m going to try. I lied about going to just hang out with Luz, we were trying to do something. . . Well that isn’t important right now. There was an accident and Luz, King, and me were tossed through a portal. We’re safe, we actually ended up in the human world near Luz’s home. Luz’s mom is allowing us to stay with her for now, I don’t know how long she’ll believe what Luz told her though. We need you to go find Eda and Lilith at the Owl House, let them know we’re okay, and maybe work with them to find a way to get us back. . . or maybe King and I, I don’t know if Luz will want to leave again. I guess I should ask that. I hope this gets to you, please don’t worry. And, uh, please don’t tell our parents. Not only would I never be allowed to do anything again, but what I was doing was kind of illegal.}

“Mittens?” Emira said feeling a bit numb.

“Doing something illegal?” Edric sounded awestruck.

“Knowingly?” Emira finished and they both turned their eyes to the Clawthornes again. “Willingly?”

“She insisted on coming along.” Lilith confirmed as she shifted uncomfortably.

“She wanted to protect Luz, and with our current state we could hardly turn down the help.” Eda’s tone was resigned, and she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “It’s good that they safely made it to the other side, now the important problem is how do we get them back?”

“We can not tell our parents.” Edric actually went a few shades paler as he said this. “Maybe we can make an illusion of Amity but if someone touches it.”

“Ed the only one, besides us, brave enough to touch Amity is Luz.” Emira reminded him. She sighed heavily and looked toward the older witches. “We’ll make sure no one notices Amity is missing, I don’t think we can cover for Luz though.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Eda waved off the second concern. “I’ll tell Bump she’s sick, he doesn’t know enough about humans to question it.”

“And the two of you WILL find a way to bring them BACK.” Emira followed, cocking an eyebrow at the Clawthornes.

“Of course we will, we would never leave our apprentices in such a situation.” Lilith stated as if she were still a powerful coven leader.

“We’ll keep you informed, let us find a way back for them and you focus on covering for Amity.” Eda grinned in a very strange manner. “Once we have an idea of how, we’ll meet again and agree on a plan.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Luz hummed cheerfully as she bounded up the stairs, intent on getting Amity so they could eat breakfast. She opened the door to her room and stopped, brown eyes locking on the other teen and feeling awestruck at the sight. Luz had left some clothes for Amity earlier; she’d been a bit limited on what to offer since Amity had at least an inch on her and clearly preferred dark colors. She actually had expected the other girl to maybe dislike the hooded shirt she’d found, but not only was she wearing it, but Amity actually had the hood up complete with the little black cat ears. Luz was a bit lost for words, seeing Amity in black jeans, and the black and gray cat hoodie, and it looked like her hair was still down underneath the hood.

“Hermosa.” Luz absently muttered in Spanish. Amity heard her, though she didn’t look away from her scroll only patting the space beside where she sat on the foot of the bed. The human girl shook herself silently, then walked over and dropped into the space beside her.

“Ed and Em answered, only they didn’t.” Amity said while passing her scroll to Luz. Luz tore her eyes from her friend and saw that a group conversation with Emira and Edric was pulled up. Luz saw at the top of the screen the messages Amity had sent last night trying to explain what happened and where she was. Her eye caught on a part where Amity stated she wasn’t sure if Luz would want to come back to the Isles, and Luz felt her gut twist slightly at the thought. She pushed that thought aside for the time being and started reading the responses from the twins. She frowned; they didn’t seem as if they’d received any message.

{Hey, Mittens, you’re lucky Dad and Mom are on that trip. When are you coming home?} From Edric.

{Mittens, you missed dinner. Are you okay?} From Emira

{Amity, we know you love, sorry enjoy Luz’s company but can you let us know when you’re coming home.} From Edric.

{I promise to stop teasing you, at least for tonight, just let us know you’re okay.} From Edric.

{Amity, please say you’re at the Owl House.} From Emira.

{Amity?} From Emira.

{Amity, come on, please answer.} From Edric.

{Hey, whatever is going on it’s alright just let us know.} From Emira.

{Hey Mittens, where are you? Ed and I are worried. Send us a message when you see this.}

Luz finished reading and looked over at Amity, and though she was unbearably cute in that spare hoodie, Luz could see that she was also worried. She thought she saw guilt in Amity’s expression too. Luz bit her lip for a moment, passing the scroll back to Amity and slinging an arm about her shoulders in a side hug. They sat quietly like that for a few minutes, Amity let her head fall forward a bit, which made the hood hide her face from Luz’s eyes.

“Logically, if I received these messages, my messages should have gotten through.” Amity finally said quietly and leaned into Luz’s side a bit.

“Maybe it’s a signal delay?” Luz suggested and felt Amity nod. “If it’s just a delay then they should get your messages any time now. We just have to wait and see what they send, or sent back, right?”

“Yeah, that’s probably it.” Amity agreed, and now Luz was sure she heard guilt in her voice.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I just feel bad for worrying them.” She sighed. “Ed and Em drive me nuts, but we all still love each other.” That might have been the most emotional thing Luz had ever heard Amity confess. She didn’t know what to say right then, so instead she pulled her friend into a full hug. After a moment she felt Amity’s arms come around her to return the hug. They only broke the hug when they heard a throat clearing, and both turned to see King standing at the door with his arms crossed.

“If you two don’t come eat, I am going to eat all of the food.” The demon said in a tone that was meant to sound threatening, but there was a very obvious hint of humor there.

“We’re on the way.” Luz agreed and suddenly moved to lift Amity who sort of squeaked at suddenly finding she was being carried again.

“Luz . . .” She tried to find her words, but Luz just laughed and proceeded carefully down the stairs.

“Sorry, it’s faster and King really will eat our breakfast if we leave him too long.”

Amity managed to laugh at that, she had no doubt the small demon would do so. Truthfully, she was pleasantly surprised he had cared enough to warn them.


	3. Bamboozle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please leave a review. Reviews keep me motivated. Enjoy!

In the Human World:  
Bamboozle

Camila Noceda trusted her daughter, but she also knew her daughter wasn’t always the most reliable at interpreting things. For that reason, she contacted a friend the morning after Luz brought Amity Blight to their home, wanting to believe that no family could truly abandon their fifteen-year-old daughter at her summer camp to just fend for herself. Sadly though, having worked in hospitals had also taught her that many things that should never happen to people so young still did. What Luz said, about Amity’s sexuality, was an unfortunately common reason for families to disown their children. It was not right, and the very idea broke her heart for the girl and for all the other teens and children suffering such treatment. She knew that if nothing else Amity’s birth defect would make her extremely easy to identify if she was on a missing children’s list.

“You’re sure?” Camila asked the police officer again, a man who frequented the hospital she worked at. He sighed, also knowing what the results meant.

“I checked everything, no one by her name or description has been reported missing Camila. If she has a family, they aren’t looking for her.” He shifted a bit, shifting his weight from one foot to another as they spoke across the nurse’s station desk. “If you want, I could come pick her up and take her to Child Services for you.”

“No, Luz will already be upset when I have to call, I don’t need to make her think Amity is in trouble somehow.” Camila imagined her daughter, in a number of different scenarios, and there wasn’t a one that ended happily with her sending Amity away.

“You know, since she isn’t actually missing, there really isn’t a rush on calling.” He commented and Camila offered him a raised eyebrow. “I’m just saying, you have always said you wished your kid had some real friends. If it comes to it, I’m sure I could make a few calls and help get Amity officially left in your care.”

“I don’t think that will work but thank you for the offer.” She smiled and he nodded.

“Just let me know if you change your mind, and in the meantime, I’ll keep checking the database every so often. If she suddenly pops, I’ll let you know.”

That had been halfway through her shift, and now she entered the house with a heavy heart. She spotted King first, the strange little dog almost appeared to be staring at the door waiting for her. She knelt down, pulling a plush squeaky toy from a bag she was carrying and saw his eyes seem to light up. He darted over to her and Camila cooed at the strange little creature. She petted him as he snuffled his new toy, hearing it squeak and she could almost swear she heard the dog chuckle quietly. How strange.

With a shake of her head she moved to set her things down on the couch, before heading up the stairs to seek out the teens. Hushed voices were heard from the open door of Luz’s room, and then a laugh from both girls. Camila walked quietly, coming to stand in the doorway and seeing both girls sitting against the headboard of Luz’s bed. They held Luz’s phone between them, each wearing an earbud, and appeared to be watching a movie or video. She grinned slightly at how cute the two looked just relaxing and ignored the twist of guilt for the conversation she was about to have with her daughter. Camila finally, after trying to memorize the moment, rapped a knuckle on the doorframe to announce her presence. Both girls looked up suddenly, and Amity quickly became a blushing mess.

“Luz, come downstairs.” Camila said with as much false cheer as she could manage. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Yes, Mami.” Luz pulled her earbud out and Amity tapped the phone as the two exchanged a look. Camila turned, starting to walk away but listening to the words she heard exchanged behind her. “I’ll be right back; you can keep watching if you want.”

“I’ll wait for you to come back, it’s more fun to watch together.” Amity’s voice sounded a little shy.

“Okay, I’ll hurry if I can.” And that was the upbeat, ray of sunshine that was Luz Noceda.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

{Don’t worry, Mittens, we will get you back as soon as we can. Ed and I are masters of fooling all the adults, including our parents, they won’t notice a thing. We spoke to Eda and Lilith, they are going to cover for Luz. Be careful in the human world and tell Luz that she had better be taking care of you. We love you Amity.} Message from Emira

{Also, really impressed Baby Sister. I never would have imagined you had it in you to do something so . . . Bad Girl? Just enjoy your time with your girlfriend, opps I mean friend, until we get you back.} Message from Edric.

Amity was thankful that Luz was in another room talking to her mother, that way she didn’t have to explain why she suddenly looked like a tomato. She tried to glare at her scroll, as if her siblings would feel her annoyance across the dimensional gap, but her heart wasn’t in it. She missed the twins, though she’d die before she told them that, and was grateful that they were on her side. As frustrating as it could be when the twins got away with so much trouble, the idea of those skills turned to protect her made her feel much more secure about avoiding consequences from their parents. She had more than enough tension about her parents without them finding out where she was at this moment. They were not the type who would be grateful to see their daughter home safely, and she shuddered to think exactly what they would do if they knew she’d worked against the Emperor and his Coven.

She ran a hand through her hair, she was a little self-conscious about having it down. That was another thought that caused her to turn into a blushing mess. ‘Luz thinks my hair is pretty’ repeated in her mind every time she considered pulling it into her usual style. She resisted the urge to lay back on the bed and lose herself in an imaginary world where she had the guts to confess her crush, and instead reached for the notebook and pen Luz had given her. That also warmed her heart, remembering Luz’s words upon offering her the notebook.

“I know it isn’t as nice as your journal, but I thought this way you can still write down your thoughts.” Luz had said with a smile, then showed Amity the first page which was the only one that had been used. “And I drew you a little picture! It’s us as Hecate and Azura!”

Amity smiled at that drawing for a moment, admiring how Luz had drawn them back to back, as if protecting each other in a battle. She finally shook herself from her daydreaming and turned to a blank page. Pushing aside thoughts of the human teen she admired so much, she instead addressed her thoughts and worries regarding her family.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Luz Noceda squirmed nervously in her seat at the kitchen table. It’d been a few days since she, King, and Amity arrived in the human world. This afternoon Camila had arrived home and asked to speak to Luz alone, regardless of the cheerful tone used in front of Amity Luz knew her Mom had something important on her mind. Her tension was slightly broken by a random squeak from the living room, King playing with a squeaky toy Camila had brought him when she arrived home. The little demon was still unhappy at pretending to be a dog, but Camila had won over his heart. She gave him treats and today the plushy dog toy. King was adapting to his role, though Luz wouldn’t dare tell him that.

Camila set a cup of steaming, chocolate, goodness in front of Luz and took a seat with her own cup. They silently enjoyed the treat, Luz trying not to look as nervous as she felt. Camila seemed to be considering her words carefully, watching her daughter for something though the teen wasn’t sure what. Luz had consumed about half her drink when Camila broke the silence, offering that reassuring smile she gave her daughter before bad news came.

“Luz, estoy muy orgullosa de ti por hacer amigos y estar tan dispuesto a ayudar a los necesitados. Lo sabes, ¿no? (Luz, I’m so proud of you for making friends and being so willing to help others in need. You know that, don’t you?)”

“Sí mamá. (Yes, Mama.)” Luz suddenly didn’t want the rest of her drink, her stomach felt like it was cramping. This wasn’t going anywhere good, she was sure of that.

“Cariño, hay mucho que implica cuidar de otra persona. (Sweetheart, there is a lot that goes into taking care of another person.)” As those words left her mother’s lips Luz felt like she had been doused in ice water. She pouted; she didn’t mean too but she could feel herself pouting. This was definitely not going anywhere good. Her mother shifted as that look crossed the younger Noceda’s face, seeming less comfortable as well. “Cariño, sería mejor que nos comuniquemos con los servicios para niños. (Honey, it would be best if we contacted child services.)”

“No, no, no!” Luz popped to her feet, coming around the table and going to her knees near her mother’s chair. Camila turned in her seat and watched her daughter who was near tears, hands clasped as if she were praying, looking up at her with the most desperate expression she’d ever seen. “¡Por favor, no envíes a Amity! ¡Haré lo que sea! (Please, please don’t send Amity away! I’ll do anything!)”

“Luz, solo el dinero para cuidar de otro adolescente. . . (Luz, the money alone to take care of another teen. . .)” Camila couldn’t finish that thought, Luz was already shuffling forward a bit and speaking.

“¡Puedes quedarte con mi mesada! ¡Tomaré esa ruta de papel que la señorita Cortez me ha estado ofreciendo! ¡Conseguiré un trabajo a tiempo parcial! (You can keep my allowance! I’ll take that paper route Mrs. Cortez has been offering me! I’ll get a part time job!)” Luz was clearly panicking, and Camila shut her eyes, looking resigned. Luz saw it and prayed it meant she had hope. “¡Por favor mamá, por favor! ¡Haré cualquier cosa, lo que sea necesario para cuidar de Amity! (Please mama, please! I’ll do anything, anything needed to take care of Amity!)”

“Ella es realmente importante para ti, ¿no es así? (She’s really important to you, isn’t she?)” Camila watched Luz nod as if the gesture itself could save the situation. Her mother tilted her head slightly, giving her an almost calculating look. “¿Qué tan importante es ella para ti? (How important is she to you?)”

“Amity means. . .” Luz slowed her mind down for a moment. Her first reaction was to say Amity means everything to me, but she wasn’t sure exactly why that thought came to her. She took a breath, took a moment, her brown eyes drifting to the kitchen floor as she searched for words. “She’s just really important to me. She’s one of my best friends, maybe my best friend.”

“Oh Luz. . .” Camila shut her eyes, taking a few breaths, that absolutely terrified Luz as she waited. Just when the teen was about to recommence begging her mother spoke again, not opening her eyes. “I’ll call Señora Cortez in the morning and let her know you want to take that paper route.”

Luz all but launched off the floor to throw herself at her mother in a tight hug. Camila smiled regardless of the issues rolling through her mind. Camila liked to think she was not a push over as a mother, but this wasn’t something she could deny Luz. She clearly didn’t yet know the full story between the two, but it was clear that if she sent the girl to Child Services Luz would be heart broken.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Luz was rapidly speaking as she continued to hug her mother. “¡Te quiero, mami! ¡Gracias! (I love you mommy! Thank you!)”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

The first day of the week at Hexside wasn’t very different from the start of the week at any school. Students and teachers alike lamented the beginning of the week, some more quietly than others. The trio of the Blight siblings tended to draw attention at the best of times, as the family name and status as Top Students tend to set them apart from everyone. It wasn’t unheard of to see all three siblings arrive at school together, however it was considerably rarer than it was common. Students and teachers alike tended to move aside when all three passed. The twins flanked Amity on either side, and their perpetual trickster smirks countered their younger sister’s serious and downright focused expression. Curious looks followed them all the way to the door of Amity’s first Abomination class of the day. Emira strode in as the younger witch crutched over to her desk, followed by Edric who set his sister’s book bag down.

“Good morning sir!” Emira greeted Amity’s teacher with a disarming smile, and he eyed her with a mixture of curiosity and caution. The twins were intelligent, well liked, but the instructors outside the Illusion Track knew to be cautious of the two.

“Good morning, Ms. Blight. Can I help you?” He returned her greeting politely.

“Yes sir, my parents asked me to inform Amity’s teachers that she’s having a bit of vocal trouble. The healers said she’s fine to attend class, but they prefer she not speak unless absolutely necessary.” Emira dropped her voice as if sharing a secret with only a trusted friend. “Edric and I may have accidentally caused it, so we’re doing our best to help her avoid embarrassment.”

“Of course, well then it seems the other students will just need to pick up the slack.” He gave an understanding smile. “I wouldn’t want my star student to suffer when the others need to pull their weight.”

“Thank you so much for understanding sir.” Emira smiled brightly, before turning to Edric where he was whispering something to Amity. “Come on Ed, off we go!”

“We’ll meet you after class.” Edric told Amity, who nodded with a look of mixed determination and annoyance. The twins departed swiftly as more Abomination Track students began to filter in. “One teacher charmed. . .”

“And so many more to go.” Emira finished her brother’s thought. He threw his arm across her shoulders and smiled as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“This is so easy we could manage it in our sleep, Em.”

“Just the same, I will be happier when those two keep their end of the bargain. The sooner the better.” They shared another look and Edric didn’t sag, but the false cheer didn’t reach his eyes.

“Mittens and her favorite girl will watch out for each other. Think about Grom, those two are unstoppable together.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

The day continued on, the twins dutifully meeting Amity after each of her classes and escorting her to the next. Edric carried her school bag and prattled on about something, Emira charmed each teacher with a near identical performance to that of the morning. They always flanked Amity, which tended to dissuade anyone brave enough to possibly approach the youngest Blight. Boscha looked as if she was tempted to approach the trio at lunch, Emira leveled a glare at her that seemed to make the younger witch pale. Frankly, Emira was waiting for an excuse to have words with Amity’s former friend since the Grudgby incident.

“Woah, that look wasn’t aimed at me, was it?” The friendly voice of Viney caused Emira to realize she was glaring past the other teen who’d stopped near the siblings. Emira allowed her expression to soften again, even as Edric laughed.

“No, no. That was for someone who has made it onto our delayed pranks list.” The male twin informed the duel track student. Emira refocused her attention to the green-eyed girl, offering her a playful wink.

“Is there something we can do for you, beautiful?” She asked, ignoring when Edric coughed as he nearly choked on his apple blood.

“Actually, I was wondering it any of you have seen Luz around?” Viney asked, breaking eye contact with Emira to look about the cafeteria again. “Us Duel Trackers had planned a study group this weekend but Luz never showed. Kind of wanting to make sure she’s okay.”

“No, sorry, haven’t seen Luz today.” Edric said and they watched Viney grimace slightly.

“If we do, we’ll certainly tell her you’re looking for her.” Emira offered and that brought a small smile from the green-eyed witch. “How’s, was it Piddles?”

“Puddles.” Viney corrected and thankfully laughed at the mistake. “Puddles is great, you should come out to the Beast Keeping stables sometime. I could give you a ride.” There was an awkward pause and Viney shifted her eyes to look toward all three Blights instead of just Emira. “Offer is open to all three of you of course, any friend of Luz is good with me.”

“Maybe after this one heals a bit more.” Edric said, throwing an arm around Amity’s shoulders and giving her a tight half hug, which caused the youngest Blight to shove her brother off of her. Viney laughed at their antics, said a quick goodbye, and wandered off as Emira watched her.

“Distracted much?” Edric playfully whispered to his twin.

“No.” Emira answered quickly as she turned swiftly to look at him. “I’m just hoping Luz’s absence doesn’t keep drawing attention.”

“Yeah, I mean it’s hard not to miss her now that we’re all so used to her excited, bouncy, hyper, excited. . .” Edric stopped when their younger sister elbowed him. Emira laughed as he groaned and patted the youngest Blight on the head. “Too realistic.” Edric groaned causing Emira to laugh all over again. The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful, and that night the twin’s received another message in the group chat.

{Edric, she is not my girlfriend and you clearly meant it otherwise you would have deleted that!} That first line made the twins relax a bit; they could basically hear their baby sister fuming at them as they read the message. {The messages are delayed so I don’t know when you sent me a message, or when you’ll receive mine. Luz is taking care of me; I am absolutely not telling her you said that Emira. I’m relieved to see you received my message and that you’re working on things over there. It’s a long story, but I’m not planning to join the Bad Girls Coven so please don’t be too excited. And, maybe you could make sure I have notes for the classes I’m missing? Please?}

“Not that I doubted. . .” Edric said.

“But that is clearly Mittens.” Emira finished with a laugh. The twins were able to relax slightly for the moment.


	4. Chasm

In the Human World:  
Chasm

“Okay, let’s try this again.” Edric said, clapping his hands before rubbing them swiftly together as if to warm them. Emira crossed her arms and looked at what they were now privately calling Mittens 2.0. The Illusion of Amity was visually perfect, right down to the cast on her right leg and the healing patches attached to it.

“Amity, where do we go to school?” Emira asked. This wasn’t the first attempt at this, they had been working on the voice of the illusion because it was terribly inaccurate in their first attempt. Mittens 2.0 gave Emira the kind of withering stare her actual sister would have offered to those bothering her with nonsense.

“We are all students at Hexside, Em.” She responded in the perfect, if slightly prissy tone the twins had often heard Amity use around Boscha and her gang. Edric whooped and jumped before doing a short victory dance, however Emira chewed her lip as she debated and Edric deflated slightly. They’d easily perfected Amity’s appearance, after all they had known her as long as she’d been alive. The voice was another matter though because Amity had softened recently.

“Real Mittens isn’t as snarky or biting of late.” Emira commented and her brother sighed heavily.

“We can’t make her more approachable, we both know that we need her to give people the cold shoulder.” He reminded her, though he couldn’t hide the hint of sadness in his voice. “We aren’t making her bully anyone, just be standoffish, and she is most often at school.”

“You’re right.” Emira still felt like Mittens 2.0 could be made closer to the real Amity, but then it could also be that she already missed her sister. Edric, as usual, must have known what she was thinking because he hugged his twin in a comforting manner.

“Hey, this is one of the best illusions we’ve ever made. We can touch it, talk to it, it will take notes. . .” He freed a hand and held it up, looking to Mittens 2.0 and holding his hand palm out. “Give me five!” She slapped his hand and he chuckled. “We even taught her the human greeting Luz likes.”

“Let’s not do that at school, she’ll kill us when she gets back if we do.” Emira reminded him and Edric nodded his agreement. They almost relaxed when they heard the door downstairs and shared a more cautious expression. “Here comes the next test.”

“Good thing we got her talking.” Edric moved and opened the door for the two. “Come on Mittens, we need to say hello to our parents.”

The twins matched pace with Mittens 2.0, helping her down the stairs before giving her back her crutches. They found Mr. and Mrs. Blight in the sitting room, both clearly waiting for their three children to appear. The Blight parents were, as always, dressed immaculately with not a hair out of place and not a wrinkle to be found. Mr. Blight watched the teenagers silently even as his wife let out a disappointed sigh, her eyes roving over the three with clear disapproval.

“Have you become savages in our short absence?” She asked them, crossing her arms and fixing her stare on the three. They stood in their school uniforms, hours after school had ended, and slightly rumpled after a full day of wear.

“No, Mother.” Emira made herself the spokesperson first, bowing her head apologetically. “We were preoccupied working on our homework together.”

“That is no excuse, Emira Blight.” Mrs. Blight shook her head and waved a hand as if to discard that excuse by wave of hand alone. “We expect you to change out of your school uniforms each day, regardless, even when we are not present to ensure you do so. You are not children and shall conduct yourselves as the young gentleman and ladies you are.”

“Yes, Mother.” That was Edric, giving his best respectful son impersonation. “We promise it will not happen again.”

“See that it does not.” She moved to take a seat on one of the couches in the room, though the three teens did not move to sit. “Has anything of note happened at school?”

“No, Mother.” Emira, Edric, and Mittens 2.0 responded in near unison. Mr. Blight cleared his throat and the three moved their attention to their father. He watched them as he spoke, his eyes intent on all three.

“Nothing?” He asked again and only the twins’ years of experience prevented them from squirming as he gave them that knowing gaze.

“Nothing, Father.” Edric replied and did not miss the look his parents exchanged briefly. Something had happened they’d heard about, but he wasn’t sure what and he doubted Emira knew either. He wanted to look to his sister, but that could have seemed like a sign of guilt to their parents.

“Your Father and I have urgent business for the Emperor’s Coven.” Mrs. Blight broke the silence finally and Edric didn’t need to look to know his sister was as surprised as he was. “We shall be away until this business is complete, and you will conduct yourselves as is befitting members of the Blight family in our absence. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mother.” Again, the three responded in near perfect unison.

“Emira, Edric, we expect you to take care of your sister.” There was something in Mrs. Blight’s tone that made them both even more uncomfortable. “Also, Amity will need to have her cast removed in a few days’ time. I will leave the information and payment for that on the dining table before we leave tonight.”

“Tonight?” Emira asked, feeling shock wash across her face openly. The eyebrow her mother raised was enough to make her school her face back to normal. “I apologize Mother, must you leave so soon.”

“Our work is important.” Mr. Blight answered, though he at least stepped forward and offered his children a look that seemed mildly apologetic. “We trust the three of you can function properly in our absence.”

“Now, go change. We will have dinner in an hour, and I expect all of you to be properly dressed.” Mrs. Blight dismissed them, but as they turned Mr. Blight spoke again.

“Amity, we need to speak with you alone.” He said, Edric and Emira both had to force themselves not to react. Mittens 2.0 settled back to face their parents on her crutches, they had to trust they’d cast the illusion perfectly. The twins were halfway up the stairs when Edric chanced a look at his sister. Emira returned an uneasy look, and watched her brother mouth a word their mother definitely wouldn’t have approved of.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Amity could have stayed inside the house, and frankly it was more comfortable inside, but she’d opted to follow Luz into the backyard and watch her human friend. King had disappeared, and after a brief search Luz had determined the little demon was napping next to her mother who was sleeping before a night shift at the hospital. Luz had shown Amity a picture, King curled up by her mother’s feet, and they’d shared a quick giggle at the cute image. Now Amity watched Luz pull a thing with two wheels and a metal frame onto a patch of concrete, knocking a spider web off as she grumbled something. Amity herself lounged in borrowed shorts and a borrowed t-shirt, sitting on a lawn chair because Luz insisted she shouldn’t spend so long leaning on her crutches.

“And what is that?” Amity asked, causing Luz to shoot her a smile. The teen witch ignored the warmth that smile inspired as Luz turned and went to retrieve the garden hose.

“It’s a bike, lots of humans use these to get around or just to ride for fun or exercise.” The human explained as she was fighting with the hose. Amity’s gold eyes shifted between Luz and the bike, considering that explanation. The human equivalent of a staff then? At least in transportation, though she highly doubted it could go as fast. “I need to clean it because it’s been out here all summer.”

“You need the dirt and webs off?” Amity asked, and Luz hummed a sort of affirmative sound. The young witch glanced about, ensured no one was near them, and drew a quick spell circle with her hand. Luz turned as the spell took effect and watched the magic pass over her bike. The effect was remarkably interesting, dirt, a little rust, and spider webs just sort of fell off as if the bike shook them off. Luz turned surprised and awed eyes toward Amity and the witch felt her ears and face burn with another blush. ‘I am going to die from blushing if we don’t get back soon.’ She thought to herself.

“You have to teach me that.” Luz said, then frowned in mild disappointment. “Only you can’t at the moment.” She sighed heavily but dropped the hose and shook it off with another smile.

“I’ll show you again sometime, it’s a pretty useful spell.” Amity said as she watched Luz sort of bounce over toward her chair. The human teen surprised her, pausing by her chair and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. If Amity thought she was blushing before, now she was almost lightheaded from how hard she was blushing.

“Thanks, that saved me so much time.” Brown eyes met gold eyes, and Luz gave her a very concerned look. “I’m getting you some cold water, and a hat. You look really red; I hope you aren’t getting a sun burn. Do you get sun burns?”

“I uh. . .” Amity really needed Luz to move away so she could breathe, and thankfully she did almost as the green haired witch thought that. Once Luz had darted through the backdoor of the house, Amity sort of crumpled forward. She buried her face in her hands, her hair swinging forward as she had left it down to hide her ears. She could feel the sun on the back of her neck, warming the skin where her undercut left her neck exposed. “Friends, you are friends. She doesn’t mean anything by that.” She mumbled to herself softly. The mantra had become a habit during her stay at the Noceda home, it was hard to share a room with your crush and not need to remind yourself.

When Luz returned a few minutes later Amity had managed to pull herself back together. She chuckled in amusement as the human presented her with a bucket hat that had little cat ears on top. Luz gave a bright smile when she heard Amity chuckle, then took the time to carefully place the hat on her friend’s green haired head.

“Just how many clothes with cat ears do you have?” Amity asked as they shared a smile again.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Luz said with a wink, drawing another laugh from Amity. The human’s smile turned soft, as she pressed a cold bottle of water into Amity’s hands. Her tone was just a little shy when she spoke again. “I really like hearing you laugh.”

“Uh, thanks.” Amity managed to fight off the blush that time, maybe she was getting better at not becoming a flustered mess. Luz turned, grabbed a spray can, and moved to go sit on the ground near her bike. Amity sipped her water, watching as Luz carefully sprayed oil on all the places that could turn or move in any manner. They talked, and Luz told her about the times when her mother was teaching her to ride a bike.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

This summer had been such a whirlwind of events for Willow Park and her friends. The first day she noticed Luz was absent she thought perhaps she needed a day’s rest after everything which happened with Eda, the Emperor, and Lilith. Honestly even when Luz had explained it to Gus and herself, or rather told her what happened on her end of things, it had seemed so overwhelming. The second day she started to wonder if Eda had kept her home for safety reasons, but on the third day when their history teacher called her name and she wasn’t there, Willow became a bit scared. At lunch she whispered back and forth with Gus, quietly, discussing what could be the reason for their friend’s continued absence. That night they even tried calling the Owl House, but only Hooty answered. They couldn’t make much sense of what the house demon said, but they did manage to ascertain that no one else was home.

“Where do you think they went?” Gus asked, and Willow chewed her lip a bit as she really considered that. “Do you think they’re in hiding?”

“I really think Luz would have found a way to say goodbye, even if it was just by letter.” Even as Willow said this, she realized it was more that she hoped their friend would be able to say goodbye. “Besides, the Emperor canceled the bounty on Eda and we haven’t seen one for Lilith or Luz yet.”

“Unless there’s a secret one.” Gus said this in a tone that was somehow a mix of excited and scared. “What if the Coven came for them in the night?”

“I don’t know, why not just openly place a bounty on them if he was going to do that?” Willow sighed and fidgeted with her scroll. The two were silent for long moments, sitting on the floor of Willow’s bedroom with their schoolbooks spread about them.

“Wait.” Gus’s expression lit up and he all but bounced where he sat. “What about Amity? We haven’t asked her, maybe she knows where Luz is.”

“Maybe.” Willow bit back a smile, she knew Gus hadn’t caught on to Amity’s crush. Willow saw it though; it was impossible not to after that conversation in the green house. She didn’t want to worry Amity if the other witch didn’t know, but if she didn’t how long would it really be before she became concerned too. “I’ll send her a message.” She finally said, pulling up the correct contact and starting to tap at her scroll.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“Amity.” Mr. Blight’s tone was stern as he eyed what he thought was his youngest child. “It has come to our attention that your grades have declined.” He sighed. “If you were not still the top student enrolled in your track we would be having a very different discussion right now.”

“Be that as it may.” Mrs. Blight spoke up, and Mittens 2.0’s eyes shifted to her as she spoke. “It is quite clear you have become distracted and need to refocus. Normally we’d contact Ms. Clawthorne about the possibility of more private lessons, however due to certain recent events that is simply not an option. For the time being you will be expected to spend your free time on self-directed study, and you may ask the twins for help if you would like.”

“Until your grades return to where they were you will not waste your time with friends or classmates.” Mr. Blight redirected. “Are we clear, young lady?”

“Yes, Father.” Mittens 2.0 agreed calmly, and the elder Blights watched her carefully for long moments.

“There is one other matter of importance.” Mrs. Blight said and waited for those gold eyes to meet hers again. “It has also come to our attention you have been spending time with the human student. That ends today, and we will not entertain any debate on this topic. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mother.” Mittens 2.0 was dismissed shortly after. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs Edric all but bounded down to help her climb them again. Mittens 2.0 dutifully told them everything which had been said and watched the twins pale as she explained the last portion. “Is that bad?” Mittens 2.0 asked them.

“It’s complicated.” Edric told the illusion but offered her a comforting smile. “But don’t worry about it, you did exactly the right thing.”

“Go get changed for dinner.” Emira told her kindly and waited until the illusion clone had departed. She looked to Edric and grimaced. “We have to find a way to fix this. They did this with Willow, and it changed Amity so much, I don’t think she’ll be able to handle it with Luz.”

“Do you think she’d obey them about Luz?” Edric asked and they shared a look that spoke volumes. “Okay, okay. Right now, Luz isn’t even here, and Mother and Father will be leaving for who knows how long.”

“Possibly to hunt Lilith and Eda.” Emira said and tried to roll some tension from her neck.

“Why don’t we get through dinner and take it from there?” Edric suggested, his sister did not miss a slightly overwhelmed tone in his voice.

“I don’t see that we have any other choice right now.” Emira agreed.

“Well, I mean, we could take Mittens 2.0, sneak out a window, and go live with the Owl Lady.” He suggested and Emira twitched. Neither was sure how to feel about that idea, and even Edric wasn’t sure how serious he was about it. He considered for a moment before regarding his sister with concerned eyes. “Should we explain to Mittens 2.0 who Luz is and why she’s important?”

“I don’t think that information would help anything right now.”

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Amity woke when Luz’s phone beeped to wake her friend and current roommate. The green haired teen pretended to still be asleep, she didn’t want Luz to feel guilty about waking her before sunrise. She still did not understand why Luz had a delivery job at this hour, the human had been evasive when she’d mentioned it. Slitted gold eyes watched Luz stumble around in the dark, grab some clothes, and exit the room to go change in the restroom. Amity had almost fallen asleep again when King suddenly hopped up onto the end of her bed. The little demon was unconcerned when Amity jolted upright in surprise, instead he just walked a circle near her feet before curling up and dropping back to sleep. She watched him, really not used to his antics yet, and far too awake to go back to sleep now.

“Did I wake you?” That was Luz, her voice filled with concern, who was just coming back in now that she was fully changed. Amity shook her head and gestured toward King, causing Luz to squint before she was able to make him out in the dark. Luz chuckled and Amity couldn’t help but smile at the sound.

“Can you turn the light on?” Amity asked, then tilted her head in thought. “Or will that wake King?”

“Oh no, once he’s out not much wakes him.” Luz said, before flicking the ceiling light on and momentarily blinding them both. As Amity’s vision adjusted, she was greeted with Luz looking at her with a sort of dazed look. She cocked an eyebrow at her friend, and Luz shook herself slightly. She seemed more awake than anyone should be at this hour. Amity gave in to a yawn as she pulled out her scroll to see if there were any new messages. There were several, and she frowned as she read through them.

{Hey Amity, have you heard from or seen Luz recently? Gus and I haven’t seen her at school and no one was home at the Owl House.} From Willow Park.

{So, good news and bad news, Mittens.} From Edric.

{Mother and Father came home, and they left again the same night on more business.} From Emira.

{They didn’t notice a thing, but they did have a talk with “you” about your grades slipping. You are basically grounded until your grades go back to A+s.} From Edric.

{They also brought up Luz, but please don’t worry about that for right now. Ed and I will figure something out about that. “You” are taking great class notes, by the way.} From Emira.

“News from home?” Luz asked quietly, sitting on the edge of her own bed as she pulled her socks and shoes on. Amity quietly groaned and brown eyes were watching her again. “That bad?”

“I’m grounded when we get back, and Ed and Em are being vague about something.” Amity huffed slightly as she tapped a few return messages to her siblings. “It’s never good when the twins are vague.”

“I can only imagine.” Luz agreed, giggling to spite herself as she considered things like the library incident were probably what made the twins “vague”.

“I also have a message from Willow, she and Gus are looking for you.” They each quietly mulled over that for a moment, Luz finally stood with a sigh.

“Maybe tell them to see Ed and Em and ask the twins to explain. I mean we don’t know what’s going on in the Isles, they might be helpful.” Luz’s tone was a little uncertain. “But I also don’t want them to get into trouble, they already risked a lot to help Eda.”

“We’re your friends Luz, and Eda has been kind to all of us.” Amity gave the most reassuring smile she could. “Let the twins explain and they can figure out what they will or will not do on that side of things.”

“I just feel a little guilty.” Luz confided, moving to sit on the edge of Amity’s bed and facing the other teen. “If you hadn’t insisted on helping me you’d be home right now.”

“And you’d have no contact with any of us.” Amity realized there was a hint of panic in her voice when she said that, but she couldn’t fully suppress it. The idea of Luz having been thrown back through the portal, with out even being able to say goodbye was heartbreaking. She was pulled from that thought when Luz hugged her, oh there she went again. Amity felt like butterflies had filled her stomach, her face was hot, her pulse had gone nuts. She also felt pained because. . . Well she didn’t want to think about that right now. Titan bless it she was going to just enjoy the hug while she could.

“I have to go, you should try to get some more sleep.” Luz whispered, squeezing the other teen slightly before disengaging the hug to stand. Amity shot Luz a shaky smile and a wave, before the human slipped out the bedroom door, shutting it softly behind her.

“You two are sickeningly cute.” King’s voice scared the teen girl again, and this time she threw a pillow at the little demon, but he just laughed and ignored her otherwise.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Few things caused Amity Blight to lose her cool: The twins teasing pranks, Luz being too close, and now she could add being alone with her crush’s mother. Amity needed her cast off and knew that Camila had arranged an appointment to get it removed today, but originally Luz was supposed to come as well. When it came time to leave though neither Amity nor Camila wanted to wake Luz, who’d dozed off probably from her new early morning job. Camila had just left a note, and cheerfully declared it would give her a chance to get to know Amity better. So here she was, sitting on an exam table, waiting for someone to come in as Camila smiled at her from a nearby chair.

“How did you meet Luz, mija?” Camila’s smile as she asked this was so kind and welcoming it was impossible not to be disarmed by it.

“Well, uh, Mrs. Noceda, you see. . .” Amity fumbled with her words, partly from nerves and partly trying to think of a mostly truthful answer that didn’t include the words Abomination or Dissection.

“Please call me Camila.” And somehow that offer made Amity ten times more nervous. She never called her friends parents by their first names. She adjusted the beanie she wore as if to ensure it still covered her ears.

“Um, Luz befriended someone in my group at camp.” Amity basically imagined the tracks as different groups at a camp somewhere, that should work. “And they tried to sneak her into our group. I, uh, I caught them and . . . I got a little angry, I respect the rules a lot, so I tried to turn them in to the adult in charge. There was a lot of confusion and we all got in a little trouble, but it worked out in the end.” The teen laughed, not because she was amused, in fact that memory made her want to cringe. No, she laughed because she was nervous, feeling as if they’d both be in trouble even with the censored tale. “We weren’t on good terms right away.”

“Amity, my daughter sometimes has a hard time fitting in.” Her gold eyes met the warm brown that looked so much like a younger set of eyes. Camila sighed and her tone was fond, but also a bit tired. “No need to be embarrassed, Luz is a very unique girl and I know it.”

“Yeah. . .” Amity wanted to kick herself when she caught her own dreamy tone. She refocused and stared at her cast, missing an amused and knowing expression on Camila’s face. They were silent for a few moments, but the teen was too nervous to take the silence. She began to talk, to fill the silence, and of course a certain person was the most relatable topic for the two. “Luz is over whelming.” Amity admitted, not raising her eyes from her cast. “She’s so full of energy, and she has this tendency to rush into things with out thinking. At first it seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t avoid her, and every time she showed up so did trouble.”

“That certainly sounds like Luz.” Camila laughed and it made some of the nervous tension in Amity unwind.

“The more I was around her though, the more I realized how intense and kindhearted she is. Before I knew it, I started looking forward to seeing her, and I didn’t mind the mishaps as long as we worked together to get through them.” Her voice was soft, and she gestured to the cast. “I actually hurt my leg helping Luz out of a weird sports mishap. I know I should regret getting hurt, but I don’t. Meeting Luz has made me really consider who I am, and I think I’m better for that.” There it was, the moment that brought all the nerves back. “I, um, she’s a really great friend.”

Camila didn’t say anything to that, because the door of the exam room opened and interrupted them. Amity had never been so thankful for an interruption in her life, she was sure if she spoke any longer, she’d find herself spilling all of the feelings she was trying not to expose. Of course, she wished she had the courage to tell Luz, but then she worried if that would make things awkward. More awkward really, and even if it didn’t Luz wasn’t coming back to the Boiling Isles with her. Even if she wanted to do so, how would she explain that to Camila with out telling her what was going on? Cold dread filled Amity as she realized the finality of that line of thought. There was no way this ended with Luz returning with her, was there? There was also a real chance that whatever way back was found wouldn’t be something stable enough to even consider visits to either side later.

Amity shut her eyes tightly, forcing her mind to focus on the sound of the power tool the human was using to cut the cast carefully from her leg. She focused on that sound, willing herself to be in the moment. She couldn’t focus on the future right now, because she did not want to cry. She hated crying, and she also had too much pride in herself to feel comfortable with the idea of crying in front of Camila. The tool made a whirring sound, the pitch of that sound changed as it worked on the cast. Amity felt a hand on her shoulder, Camila probably thought she was scared. She wasn’t wrong exactly, but it wasn’t the tool that scared her.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Luz and King were walking around the block again, with King on a leash needlessly for appearances. The small demon shot her looks every so often, but he didn’t speak because there were just a few too many humans about at this hour of the day. The human teen was restless, worried, and nervous. She’d woken up to find a note, and that Camila and Amity had gone to the doctor’s office with out her. She regretted taking a nap so much right now. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her Mom to take care of Amity, it was just that she felt like she needed to protect Amity. That thought was ridiculous in so many ways, Amity was a powerful witchling and far more athletic than most would guess. Memories of the grudgby match which caused the injury floated through her mind. More than once Amity had tugged Luz out of the way of the weird traps on the field, or just done something insanely athletic that momentarily distracted Luz that day.

Someone stopped Luz about King’s skull again, and she rattled off some excuse about it being a cosplay thing they were trying out. She didn’t know if the person believed her, and she couldn’t be bothered to remember anything about the person once they parted ways. Right now, her stomach was squirming, like it had just before Grom. At least this time she knew why, even if the effect it had on her didn’t fully make sense. She was worried about Amity, interacting with the human world, with out Luz at her side. Knowing the intelligent, green haired, pretty. . . Wait, what was Luz thinking about again? She grumbled to herself, and she and King completed a fifth circle of the block. King didn’t try to stop her from continuing, if she needed to walk let her walk. He was a little restless staying inside so much anyway.

Luz and King didn’t know how many laps they’d done when they turned the corner to see her Mother’s car had just parked outside the house. Luz scooped King up, the little demon made a small surprised sound, and then she bolted the rest of the way to the side of the car as the passenger door opened. Camila had been coming around the front of the car, but just stopped to watch with an amused grin as Luz rushed over. King was swiftly set down, and Luz absentmindedly released the leash as she turned to Amity. The green haired teen bit her lip as she found herself suddenly looking up at Luz who was offering her help out of the car. Camila squatted down and clapped, looking at King. Apparently, he had adapted because he rushed over, jumped in her arms, and gladly accepted the scratches he was rewarded with for the dog like behavior.

“How are you feeling? Did it hurt to get the cast off? Are you okay?” Luz was asking rapid fire questions as she helped Amity to stand, and Amity was trying to focus on the quick questions, but they were face to face again and it was hard. A throat cleared, and they both glanced over to Camila who nodded toward the car again.

“Get Amity’s cane and help her inside, Luz.” She told the teen with an amused smile. “You can question her in the air conditioning.”

“Sí mami.” Luz agreed, and then looked at Amity again with a shy smile. “Sorry, got carried away.”


	5. Diversion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, enjoy and please leave me a quick review. Reviews are super motivational.

In the Human World:  
Diversion

Lilith Clawthorne awkwardly adjusted her ragged cloak; one which Eda had insisted she wear for their current endeavor. Eda herself wore an even heavier cloak, which actually managed to conceal even her wild gray hair. She also wore a ridiculous mask, but the ensemble had the desired effect of concealing her identity as the two had traveled. Another matter which bothered Lilith to no end as they entered a run down, dirty, and smelly room at an inn Lilith felt certain was operating illegally. Eda, for her part, happily flopped onto one of the beds as soon as the door was closed.

“Get some rest, Lilly, we have a big night ahead of us.” The younger Clawthorne announced as she practically chucked her mask onto a small table in the room. The mask made a clatter sound as it landed and slid to the edge, stopping just before it would fall.

“Of what, exactly?” Lilith crossed her arms and offered her sister a look of clear annoyance, her tone practically dripping with discontentment. “You haven’t told me why we are in this mangy inn, in this questionable town.”

“You’ll find out when you need to know, and right now you don’t need to know.” Eda told her, and there was a note of finality that caused Lilith’s eyes to narrow.

“I am unaccustomed to being left in the dark.”

“No, you are unaccustomed to knowing you’re in the dark.” Eda responded in her best attempt at imitating Lilith’s voice. The elder sister visibly twitched, but she paused and took a deep breath. Snapping at Eda never got her anywhere she wanted to be, and she was trying to rebuild trust between herself and her sister.

“When will you forgive me?” Lilith said this quietly, with a tone of regret rather than accusation.

“You want a laundry list?” Eda looked at her, and there was unmistakable fire in her mismatched gold and gray eyes. “We can start with when you go more than a week with out putting my kid at risk! After that, maybe you could try referring to her as ‘Luz’ instead of ‘human’ or ‘Eda’s pet’.”

“Not the bridge again, we have talked about this, Edalyn.” Lilith deflated visibly. “I knew you would save her, had I wanted her dead I would have tossed her off the bridge again after instead of telling her to go home.”

“I was talking about your stunt that flung her and her girlfriend into the human realm.” Eda growled as she came back to her feet. “You know, where you used the plant spell Luz taught us to literally vault our dumb kids into an unstable portal?! If the green girl. . .”

“Amity, and she is not the hu. . . She is not Luz’s girlfriend.” Lilith reminded, and watched Eda pause for a moment in her rant, a sly look sliding over her face.

“Oh, but she certainly wants to be.” Eda outright cackled at Lilith’s slack jawed expression. “Oh, I forget, you haven’t seen those two together as much as I have. You should have seen them at Grom, your kid would have looked death itself in the eye to save Luz.” Eda sobered a bit, the happy memory somehow grounded her back to the issues at hand. “If Amity hadn’t had her scroll with her, we wouldn’t even know they are alive.” She sighed and sat heavily on her bed again as the previous emotions drained from her. She looked at Lilith with a hint of compassion. “I know you care about your kid too. We’ll get them both back.”

“They are not actually our children; you do remember that do you not?” Lilith asked this and was surprised to be met with a look of amusement. “Edalyn?”

“Your ‘protégé’ looked at you back at the Covention like your opinion was the most important thing in the world.” The gray-haired witch’s smile turned a little wicked. “Don’t pretend you don’t care about that girl.”

“Of course I care.” Lilith broke eye contact, instead choosing to turn and search her small bag for sleep clothes. “Amity is a promising young witch, it has been an honor to teach her for these past several years.”

“Mmmhmm.” Eda nodded and Lilith could basically hear her smirk. “A promising young witch who told her siblings to come to us for help, and to hide the situation from their parents. Face it, sister, she might not be your blood, but she’s your kid.” Lilith did not reply to that, both knew she did not need to. They were quiet for several minutes, each going about their own routine before sleep. It was not until each was settled in their own bed the Eda spoke again.

“I should probably warn you, you’re going to have to do the heavy lifting on this one.”

“What in Titan’s name does that mean?” Lilith replied with out bothering to open her eyes.

“Lily, how are you at Hexas Hold’em these days?”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Willow Park wasn’t normally considered impatient, but at the moment she was feeling very twitchy. She’d checked her scroll before bed, and first thing this morning, and between each class. She and Amity were still rebuilding their relationship as friends, but she at least anticipated some minor response. When lunch passed still with out an answer the green eyed witchling had lost her patience. She could see Amity from where she and Gus sat, with still no Luz in sight, and still no response to her message. She decided this might be call for drastic measures.

As lunch ended the Hexside student body began to filter back to classes. Chatter in the halls began to dwindle as they entered the various classes or filtered along to outdoor training areas. Amity Blight bid her older siblings goodbye and turned toward her own classes. With her cast removed the twins no longer felt it necessary to accompany her everywhere. The two Illusionists would likely regret that, because as soon as they turned the corner vines shot out and wrapped around Amity tightly. She made a muffled sound of surprise, the vines had also covered her mouth, as she was dragged backward and into a nearly empty girl’s restroom. The lock on the door clicked behind her and the vines brought her to face a short, irate, green eyed witch.

“Hi, Amity.” Willow said in a deceptively sweet tone, and gold eyes widened slightly as she had yet to be released. “I’ll admit, I didn’t want to ambush you this way but you’ve ignored my message and I’m really worried about Luz.” Willow crossed her arms and kept her green eyes locked on Amity’s gold eyes. “So, if I release you, will you stay and have a quick talk?” Amity nodded, as that was really all she could do at that moment. The vines gently set her down, carefully unwinding and retracting until they vanished into wherever Willow had summoned them from.

“You could have just asked me to talk.” Amity said as she rubbed one arm, the vines had been a little tight on that one.

“I wasn’t about to risk that you’d avoid me.” The plant witch replied in an annoyed tone.

“So, how can I help?” Amity asked, looking completely open to helping but clearly clueless as to how to do so. Willow’s brow twitched, and her head canted to one side a bit.

“Did you not get the message I sent your scroll?”

“Oh, sorry, I somehow misplaced mine.” She recited this as the twins had told her to in case anyone asked. “What was the message?”

“Have you seen Luz? Or heard from her?” Willow asked and watched a sort of blank look cross Amity’s face. That worried Willow, something wasn’t right. “She hasn’t been to school in days, and no one was at the Owl House, so Gus and I are worried.”

“Right, of course.” Amity glanced about as if looking for a way out of this conversation. She clearly found none so she spoke again. “Could you remind me who Luz is, again? Which track is she in?”

“What?” Willow didn’t hide her shock and Amity shifted uncomfortably, before she spoke again in an annoyed tone.

“I can’t be expected to know every student by name, can I?” She said with a challenging look that really worried her friend.

“You don’t know Luz?” Willow asked this in a very slow manner, just wanting to ensure she heard her correctly. Amity responded in a haughty tone she hadn’t used on anyone except Boscha in weeks.

“That’s what I said. Did you want something else?”

“No, no that was it.” Willow moved and waved as if to gesture Amity could go. The gold eyed witch did a small hair flip before unlocking the door and exiting. The Plant Track student on the other hand was in no hurry to return to class, not while she tried to process what just happened. She muttered softly to herself as she leaned against a sink. “Amity doesn’t know Luz? Doesn’t know the girl she defeated Grom with, or the one she broke her leg protecting in a grudgby match? She wouldn’t lie that blatantly so what just happened?”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

So, uh, hello journal. Uhg, why am I saying hello, you’re just a notebook Luz gave me? Luz is so sweet. I am so hopeless; I didn’t even get past the first paragraph before I started thinking about her. She’s so cute, and so oblivious, which is probably a blessing right now really. Okay, not going down that path now, that moment at the doctor’s office was enough currently. Thank the Titan Camila thought I was upset about the thing they used to remove the cast.

So far there isn’t any word on a way home yet, but the twins say no one knows I’m gone either. I never thought I’d be so thankful for Ed and Em’s talents of ditching school and concealing things from our parents. I assume they created some sort of illusion of me, and that is both terrifying and comforting. I’ll set aside all the thoughts of how that could be used against me for when I’m home. Home, wow that’s another issue altogether.

It’s been an experience getting to see what Luz’s home is like. It’s really obvious her mother loves her. Camila Noceda is just so welcoming and loving, I think I can see where Luz gets some of her. . .Her everything really. Who just takes in a random girl that followed their daughter home? That first night I was so scared she’d toss me out in the street, maybe because I really think my parents would have in her place. Camila is nothing like my parents, she’s generous, kind, and loving. She really just seems to want what’s best for Luz. It’s nice.

I haven’t been able to explore much, Camila didn’t want me going out when I had the cast. Luz has been educating me about the human world with movies and videos. It’s so different here. We watched some video the other day where creatures were dropping pianos from windows on others passing below. When I demanded to know how to avoid that Luz nearly passed out laughing. She promised me that doesn’t actually happen, I’m not entirely sure I believe her. I mean, she doesn’t have any reason to lie to me, but I guess there is just so much I don’t know about this place.

Luz and I went for a walk today, with King because apparently humans have to walk their dogs frequently. I was trying not to seem nervous, most of this neighborhood seems to be one story or two-story houses spaced apart, but I kept thinking about the pianos. Luz must have caught on because she grabbed my hand and gave one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. I know she pointed things out to me along our walk, but she also kept holding my hand, so I was basically a useless mess the rest of the time we were out. I swear I heard King snickering, but I really don’t want to think about what King does and does not know. What I know is that I’m going to enjoy the time I have while I can.

I have sadly accepted the fact that there is really nothing we can do from this end to find a way back. The humans don’t have magic, and for some reason Luz can’t even use her glyphs here. I’m fine, Luz and I tested that when her mother was at work one night. I can summon Abominations and cast any of the various spells I can on the isles. I guess, maybe, something about the isles themselves allows Luz to power her glyphs? Witches have internal magic you could say, so we don’t need the Isles themselves to cast in the same way Luz seems to. I feel terrible about that, honestly every time it comes back to her mind I can see her sort of wilt. Anyone can see that Luz loves magic, and it appears that returning home might be the end of that for her.

And there it is again, the thought that feels like it chokes the air from my lungs. This is Luz’s home, summer is almost over, there isn’t a reason for her to return. There isn’t an excuse to offer Camila for Luz to return, she was only supposed to be at that camp thing for the summer. Every time I think about this I have to stop and just force myself to breathe. I’ve known for a while that Luz would eventually return home, and with what happened to the portal I really doubt she’ll be able to visit. So there it is, she’s home now. No more game nights with Luz, Willow, and Gus. No more Azura book club in my hidden room. No more insane antics at school. No more seeing her in the hallway or getting those tight hugs she randomly gives us all. No more Luz.

Part of me doesn’t want to go home, not with out her. It’s stupid of course, I don’t belong here. Even if I had a choice I couldn’t just throw away my life, the twins, Willow, Gus, everything back home and stay here. I’d be lying if I said that I wouldn’t trade my parents for Camila, Titan I would gladly trade my parents for Camila. I’m a terrible daughter for thinking that, but she hardly knows me and has already shown me more love and acceptance than either of them. I’m really a terrible daughter, but maybe they aren’t exactly the best parents either?

Lilith and Eda Clawthorne could fail to find a way to bring me back. That isn’t a happy thought either, because then I would never see my siblings again. I’d never graduate Hexside. What would I even do in the human world if I found I couldn’t get home? What do humans learn in school? How would Luz’s human friends react to me? She does have human friends, doesn’t she? Now that I think about it, she hasn’t mentioned any human friends and I haven’t seen any. That can’t be right though, Luz is such a ball of everything good mixed with Titan awful chaos she must have friends. I mean, how long did it take her to befriend Willow and Gus? I really don’t think she knew Willow before the incident.

And now my mind is stuck on how cute she was even covered in Abomination goo. No one should be cute covered in Abomination goo. What is wrong with me? I mean I know I . . . I know how I feel about her, but really, even the memory of the Abomination goo? Amity Blight, you have utterly lost your mind. 

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“Gus, I’m telling you, something is wrong with Amity.” Willow was starting to feel increasingly desperate. It was just after school, the two stood near Gus’s locker, and in hushed tones she’d explained the incident in the restroom.

“Maybe she’s gone dark on us again.” Gus suggested and started to clearly shift into his conspiracy mode again. Willow sagged against a locker as Gus started speaking excitedly. “What if Amity herself was involved in capturing Luz? What if she’s been working for the coven the entire time? Oh, no.” He went wide eyed and his voice became a panicked, high pitched, whisper. “What if she and Principal Bump finally dissected Luz and we’ve been on the wrong trail this whole time?!”

“That’s ridiculous Gus, there is no way Amity would dissect Luz now.” Willow felt her scroll vibrate, absently fishing it out expecting a message from her fathers. She lost focus on Gus’s reply as she saw the message displayed on her screen. “Wait, I just got a message from Amity.”

“I thought she lost her scroll.” Gus stopped adding to his conspiracy theories as he moved to read the scroll as well.

{Sorry this reply took so long, I’m not even sure how long it took. Luz is safe, I promise. Go talk to Ed and Em, probably at the house, they said our parents are gone for a while. They should have gotten a message from me too but in case they haven’t show them this one and tell them Luz and I want them to explain everything.} From Amity.

“But she just told me she doesn’t know who Luz is, and why does this sound like she isn’t around?” Willow asked, but Gus being the excitable boy he was had latched on to the assurance Luz is okay. He bounced away a bit, doing one of his victory dances and throwing his hand up for a high five. Willow gave him a dry look, but that quickly turned to surprise. Amity was walking past, saw Gus waiting for a high five, and slapped his hand with a smile. She then walked away as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Willow and Gus both stared after her in silence, just observing as she continued out of sight.

“I know we both saw Amity. . .” Willow started.

“But that was not Amity.” Gus finished for her and they shared a concerned look. “Maybe we should just head on over to Blight Manor.”

“Agreed.” 

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Edric, Emira, and Mittens 2.0 had been home for less than twenty minutes when someone knocked at the manor door. The twins exchanged a look, before flipping a coin to see who would answer. Edric lost, so he wandered over to the door, swung it open and found Willow and Gus standing on the step. He leaned against the door frame casually and gave them a friendly smile, especially happy to see Willow around again after years.

“Hey, are you two here to see Mittens?” He asked in his best playful brother voice. “She’s actually grounded right now, so I can’t let you visit her but I can tell her you stopped by.”

“Cut the act Edric.” Willow’s tone reminded him of an annoyed teacher. “Are your parents here?”

“No, why would you want to see them?” He was so confused he didn’t even see what was about to happen until Willow had pushed him, mostly gently, back inside and Gus had closed the door behind the three. He blinked down at the short witch, and her green eyes glared up at him. “Are you okay, Willow?”

“I have spent days worrying about one of my best friends, only to have another friend forget she exists and then receive a vague message that sent me here.” She poked him in the stomach and Edric puffed out some air as she continued to glare. “Edric Blight I want to know what is going on. I want the truth, and I want it now. Where are Luz and Amity? Who or what has been going to Amity’s classes?”

“Oh, they’re here.” Emira’s voice drifted over to them from the doorway of the sitting room, she held her scroll in one hand and sort of waved it at her brother. “Just got a message from Mittens that says to tell them.”

“Great.” Edric rubbed his stomach and edged away from Willow, making it to his sister side and whispering to her. “Willow is scary now, please stay between us. She used to be so sweet.”

“Come on you two, let’s sit down.” Emira showed them into the other room, and Gus and Willow both eyed the Amity who wasn’t Amity doing her homework. Emira smirked at them and gestured to the Abomination student. “That is Mittens 2.0, probably the single best illusion Ed and I have ever created.”

“Wait, Illusion?” Gus moved to stare at Mittens 2.0 closely, she gave him a look that made him back away. He looked again to his upper classmen. “But she high fived me, and Willow basically assaulted her. How did she hold her form?”

“Willow did what?” Edric was clearly startled and looked between Willow and Mittens 2.0.

“She kind of kidnapped me and dragged me into a restroom today.” Mittens 2.0 informed him, still doing her homework. “She didn’t hurt me.”

“And you thought you were doing that to Amity?” Emira gave Willow an impressed look. “You really have become a brave one. Way to go Willow.”

“Still waiting for an explanation of where our friends are.” Willow reminded them, clearly not in the mood to be side tracked.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

“Here we are!” Eda announced and Lilith sighed.

“This is a gambling den.”

“This is an underground, high stakes game.” Eda corrected, hustling Lilith along. Soon Eda had bribed the bouncer and they were inside. Various tables littered the room, smoke swirling near the ceiling. Eda, still in her ridiculous disguise looked about slowly. After long moments, she nodded toward the far corner. “We start there.”

“Start?” Lilith cast a dubious look toward her sister.

“Surely you didn’t think this was one and done? Come on Lily, get with the program.” Eda led the way and the former coven leader resigned herself to a long night of seemingly pointless gambling. She had a fleeting worry that perhaps this had nothing to do with the portal, that perhaps Eda was just looking to make back some money. But no, that human, Luz, meant far too much to Eda for that. If Eda claimed this would somehow lead them to the source of the original portal, this was something Lilith would have to comply with. Whatever would come next surely had to be easier than attempting to storm the Emperor’s Castle again to gain access to the damaged portal.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Amity and Luz were sitting in the backseat of Camila Noceda’s car, and Luz was practically bouncing with excitement. Camila would occasionally glance at the two through the rear-view mirror, a smile seeming to be permanently etched on the older Noceda. Amity tried to look at least entertained, but she wasn’t really sure what she was about to experience. Camila had rounded the girls up about an hour ago and suggested they all go to the movies, and Luz had become this complete ball of excitement at the idea. Luz had tried to explain to Amity, but she was talking so fast and Amity was a bit distracted by how cute she was being. She both loved and hated that at the moment. She did catch that it involved an indoor venue and snacks.

“Here we are.” Camila pulled the car up to a curb and turned to look back at the two. She handed an envelope back to Luz who gave her a confused look. “I remembered something I need to do, but you girls go enjoy yourselves. Luz, message me when you are ready, and I’ll pick you two up.”

“Oh, okay.” Luz took the envelope, clearly finding this surprising but accepting it none the less. She opened the door, got out, and then reached in to offer Amity a hand up. Amity glanced at Camila and could swear the woman winked at her, but then the green haired teen was out of the car and standing beside Luz. They watched her mom pull away and drive off, before Luz caught Amity’s hand again and led her toward where many humans were standing in lines. Amity forced her focus away from their hands to big signs with glowing letters above the lines.

“What are those signs?” Amity whispered to Luz, trying not to be overheard.

“The movies that are playing, and the times their showing.” Luz told her, reading over the lists herself. “It looks like there’s a romcom starting soon.”

“A what now?” Amity gave her an odd look and Luz giggled.

“Sorry, a romantic comedy.” Luz supplied and Amity bit her own lip. “We should watch it, I saw the preview months ago and it looks really funny.”

“Okay.” Amity agreed, though her mind was telling her to ask about anything other than a romance movie. She shifted her mind to that moment in the car again, had Camila really winked at her. Why would she. . . Oh Titan, please don’t say Camila noticed her crush on Luz. Please, please don’t say Luz’s mother noticed Amity has feelings for her daughter.

“Are you feeling alright, you’re red again?” Luz was whispering really close to her ear and Amity felt like she was choking on air.

“I’m fine!” Amity almost yelled, and thankfully Luz laughed it off. She took calming breaths, trying to center herself a bit. She even told herself, no, Camila surely hadn’t noticed Amity’s crush. Luz’s mother would not try to engineer a date with out telling the teens. Nope, it was clearly all in Amity’s mind. Nobody knew her secret, at least no one in this realm. 

Amity was so busy telling herself that, she didn’t notice that Luz actually had a small blush of her own. And she didn’t catch that Luz stuttered slightly when she spoke to the teller to buy their tickets. If King were present, he’d be laughing his little head off at the two. As it was, he was aware of exactly what transpired, because Camila Noceda had talked the idea out to the ‘dog’ yesterday when no one was around. King had decided not to warn the two, because honestly, they were both stupidly oblivious and King was amused but also tired of watching them dance around each other.


	6. Endure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy and drop a review. Not only do get motivated by reading reviews, but I do sometimes find things which I need to address in the story.
> 
> The movie "The Half of It" is referenced in this chapter. In the United States the movie is available on Netflix.
> 
> Warlocktoungue I tried to fit in some King's point of view for you in this chapter. I will look into including more from his view if I can in the future.
> 
> ChampionElCid let me know this wasn't as clear as I intended: Eda and Lilith are cursed, or rather half cursed. They are unable to wield their magic in the normal manner and so are only using a few spells Luz showed them when needed.
> 
> Boscha fans: I apologize in advance, I'm not trying to vilify her. As of the end of season one though she is still primarily portrayed as a bully so that is what she will appear as in here.

In the Human World:  
Endure

Amity opened her scroll, took a seat on her guest bed, and found she’d been added to a new group chat someone had titled Rookies of B.G.C. She repeated the name to Luz who almost immediately laughed. She reminded Amity that Eda called Luz and herself the “Bad Girls Coven”. That drew a small laugh from Amity, as she checked who was included in the group chat: Emira, Edric, Willow, Gus, Amity, and a contact listed as Original. Luz came to sit near her, moving so that she could easily read over the green-haired teen’s shoulder.

“Original must be Eda, and I guess Lilith since they are probably together wherever they are.” Luz said, resting her chin on Amity’s shoulder as the two began to read the back messages in the new group chat. Amity forced herself to focus on the scroll, instead of on the human and how she was basically cuddling her as she leaned into her back.

“That, uh, that would make sense.” Amity agreed and navigated to the top of the chat.

{Gus and I are in! Luz, King, and Amity are our friends, of course we’ll help in any way we can! Amity, please don’t let Luz and King get into too much trouble. I’m worried about the three of you, but I’m kind of glad you’re with them.} From Willow to group chat.

“Yeah, you really are the responsible one out of us, Miss Top Student.” Luz said with a laugh as they read Willow’s first message.

“Well here you need to keep me out of trouble.” Amity reminded her and heard Luz fake a cough.

“Um, right, because I’m never in trouble.” She had an awkward smile on her face when Amity moved her head enough to look at the other girl. She arched a brow and Luz seemed to be trying to look innocent for some reason.

“Luz Noceda, are you a troublemaker here?” Amity managed to hold back a laugh as Luz’s eyes darted about. “You’re telling me about this later.”

“Um, I never intentionally caused problems.”

“Maybe I do need to keep you out of trouble.” They both turned their eyes back to the chat conversation.

{Until the old ladies return, we just need to minimize how many people notice their absence. Maybe you two can start mentioning that Luz is sick and had to stay home? Tell people you have checked on her?} From Em to group chat.

{That’s a good idea, and I guess I can start collecting Luz’s class work and homework so no one else tries to take it to her. We probably don’t need Viney, Jerbo, or Barcus getting mixed up in this for now.} From Willow to group chat.

{Maybe we should ask Viney, you never know when a healer could help us.} From Ed to group chat.

{No, Ed.} From Em to group chat.

{I really hope we don’t need a healer any time soon.} From Willow to group chat.

“Willow’s right, Viney and the boys will come looking for me eventually.” Luz commented and Amity chewed her lip slightly as she considered that information.

“Should we ask her to tell them?” The green-haired girl was against the idea, but at the same time the duel track students had been the ones to defeat the Greater Basilisk with Luz. They weren’t exactly push overs when they worked together.

“Not yet, I’m with Emira about that.”

{Can we talk about Mittens 2.0? I mean I can see how you could create an illusion that looks like your sister, but it doesn’t just look like her! Mittens 2.0 sounds like her! And how did you make her so solid? My illusion clones dissipate when touched, but Mittens 2.0 gave me a high five! You have to teach me what you did! Please!} From Gus to group chat.

{Not the time Gus! You already asked half of that earlier and they promised to show you when things are settled.} From Willow to group chat.

{Does Amity know about Mittens 2.0?} From Gus to group chat.

{She will once she reads this.} From Ed to group chat.

{Luz, Amity, Mittens 2.0 is an illusion clone of Amity that’s so real she’s amazing! You need to get back and see her!} From Gus to group chat.

“No way! How do you think they did that?” Luz whispered in an awestruck voice near Amity’s pointed ear. Amity shivered lightly, which for some reason caused Luz to hug her. “Are you cold? Hey, tell the twins they have to teach me that when we get back.” Luz’s words slowed as she completed her sentence, and Amity felt the excitement drain from Luz as if it had been a physical presence in the room with them. “I, uh, think I need some water. Do you want some water?”

“No, thank you.” Amity replied, feeling Luz nod before the other girl stood up and departed the room without looking back. King, who’d been sitting atop Luz’s dresser made a sound of discontent.

“Something just hit her.” King said, and Amity’s gold eyes shifted to meet the demon’s gaze.

“She isn’t coming back with us King.” Amity stated and the little demon moved to stand, crossing his little arms and somehow looking very determined.

“Has she said that?” He asked and Amity slowly shook her head in answer. King made a weird sound and spoke again. “Then we don’t know that.” And with that King hopped to the floor and basically trotted out of the room.

{You realize, you called them the old ladies in a chat they’ll read, don’t you, Em? Willow, Gus, thank you. Luz and I think we shouldn’t tell anyone else at the moment, there really isn’t much that can be done while we wait. Gus, uh, thank you for that information about Mittens 2.0. Luz also wants to learn how the twins made it. Her? I guess her. We haven’t gotten in any trouble yet; I’ll try to keep it that way.} From Amity to group chat.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

[So journal, I have decided my epitaph should read: Here lies Amity Blight, protégé of traitor Lilith Clawthorne, whom died because she loved a human. Alright, I realize I’m being overdramatic; however, I really feel like this girl will be the death of me. How can she not notice how she affects me? I’m not trying to be obvious of course, but I am fully aware of the mess she turns me into. Willow has reminded me a few times about “Oh wow, sports.” Thank the Titan Willow has such a kind heart, she never reminds me when Luz could hear. She has occasionally mimed things behind Luz that clearly tell me I am being a disaster again, but never so that Luz could see. Willow is a blessing, and I am so grateful for Luz’s odd interference which has brought her back into my life. I miss the Isles. I understand the Isles.]

[I experienced a human movie theater for the first-time, and it was memorable. Luz and I saw a movie called “The Half of It”. Luz suggested we share a big popcorn and a large drink with two straws, and I couldn’t think of a viable reason to say no to that. The movie was projected onto a huge wall, in a large room, with seats in elevated rows and speakers on the walls. Luz insisted we sit in the top row, and we found a pair of seats off to one side. So, I had just managed to relax, and convince myself that since there were so many people in a big room there was nothing date like to it. Then the humans running the place shut the lights off causing it to feel like it was just Luz and I. Luz told me they do that so we can view the movie more clearly, but Titan I was so nervous. I wanted to run out, but I did not want to have to explain why. Who am I kidding? She would probably just think I was afraid of the dark.]

[The movie was very interesting, about a group of teens about to graduate school and a tangled confusion of emotions. The intelligent, quiet girl fell in love, but the other girl she fell in love with seemed pretty undecided at the end. In the midst of watching all of that Luz would almost randomly lean over to whisper in my ear about things in the movie. A few times we ended up catching each other’s hand instead of the popcorn. Luz, being Luz, at one point solved this by feeding me popcorn. I was really grateful the lights were off at that moment, and thankful I didn’t need to say anything. Honestly, I can’t even tell what is normal for humans, what is Luz being herself, and what could be a sign of something else. Maybe nothing is any kind of sign. I mean playfully deciding to feed your friend popcorn could be totally normal right? Titan I can picture Ed and Em giving me a look for that thought alone.]

[When we returned to the Noceda house I found messages on my scroll. Willow and Gus have insisted on helping, though for now that is mostly contained to helping hide our absence. We have a new group chat for expediency, the seven of us (eight since Luz is here with me) in a chat. I now have confirmation the twins created an illusionary Amity that for some reason they keep calling Mittens 2.0. It took a while to get past the excited, overly detailed messages Gus bombarded us with regarding that. Luz wants Ed and Em to explain how they did it in person.]

[Luz. Something seemed to really catch her after we read those messages. She asked me to tell Ed and Em she wanted to know how they created Mittens 2.0 when she got back, and then she just fell silent for a while. I think she hadn’t fully considered that she’s home now until that moment. She was still kind of muted when she went to bed. This morning when she got up, she just stood there for a few minutes, apparently lost in her thoughts. It really seems she might not have realized until that there is not a reason for her to return. Well, there are reasons, but not the ones which would gain Camila’s permission surely? And she shouldn’t risk it, what if she couldn’t come home if she returned to the Isles? She seems to love Eda, Willow, Gus, the twins. . . Me? But enough to make up for her mother’s absence?]

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

King had settled into his temporary routine and found it acceptable. Before sunrise Luz would wake up, and King would hop over to the foot of Amity’s bed. King knew the green-haired teen always woke when Luz did, but since she usually pretended not to King didn’t out her about that. He’d watch Luz leave the room, come back changed, and often sort of stare at Amity as she pulled on her shoes and tied them. The little demon often found himself wanting to confront the two, as anyone other than the teens themselves could see they each had feelings for the other. King knew one of them would confess or bumble at some point and finally break the invisible barrier they each were keeping, but it was aggravating to watch. It was like one of those soap operas, or Luz’s Azura books. Maybe he should just start calling Amity Hecate and Luz would get the idea. He’d have to think about that idea.

The small but formidable King of Demons would wait for now, after all Camila was already giving the two some gentle nudges. Frankly, King thought maybe Camila should just sit them down and tell them, but that was his opinion. Something had shifted after the movie trip though; Luz was stumbling a bit more herself. Eda better hurry up and find a way to bring them home, King enjoyed the offerings Camila gave him but he needed a break from teenage pining and banter. Maybe he should tell Luz to invite her mother to come back with them, a King could never have too many loyal subjects after all. He did not for a moment believe what Amity had said, why would Luz stay here when she could live in the Boiling Isles?

Once Luz returned from her morning excursion, she’d wake Amity up for the second time and they’d all head down to breakfast. While Luz and Amity had to actually prepare food, King would receive his offering immediately. Yes, something about the cans filled with meat, gravy, and acceptable vegetables was very tasty and satisfying. The part he most enjoyed was that the girls were not allowed to eat these offerings, they were for King alone. Some mornings Camila would join them, and on those mornings, she would always give him a treat after. On the mornings where it was just the girls Luz would always give him a small plate of whatever they ate too.

He tolerated the walks around the block, though they actually became more entertaining once Amity was able to join them. They walked a bit slower, as Amity had to use a cane for a bit while her leg got used to bearing her weight again. King couldn’t ask questions when they were out in case other humans heard him, but Amity had no such restriction. She would nod to objects, trying not to look entirely out of place, and quietly ask Luz to explain what objects were. Fire hydrants were a pretty short explanation, bus stops started a long conversation about human transportation networks. King would also note the two were always holding hands on these walks, it was almost like Luz thought someone would take Amity or something would happen to her if they didn’t.

King also enjoyed the times when Camila was home. The woman was very busy, but any time she was home she always found time to give King belly scratches and attention. He had decided there must be something about Luz’s family, because he’d come to enjoy attention for both Nocedas. He ignored the giggles he would hear from Luz or Amity when Camila would sometimes take to carrying him about the house as she did things. It was also helpful to know Camila knew about the teens and also wished they would just tell each other already. Camila was far gushier about it, something about being excited that her daughter would be dating for the first time. King caught himself a few times, nearly telling her something he’s observed or wanting to crack a joke about it. It was rather annoying to pretend he couldn’t talk, but since the reward was continued offerings, he could tolerate that as well. He did get to speak to Luz and Amity when no one else was around, after all.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“Blight!” Boscha’s voice rang in the hallway and heads turned from lockers all around. Mittens 2.0 glanced about, determined Edric and Emira weren’t present, and turned to regard the magenta haired Grudgby Captain who was striding down the hall toward her. “We need to talk!”

“About what exactly?” Mittens 2.0 asked this in a bored tone, allowing one eyebrow to raise as she eyed the other witch. All three of Boscha’s eyes narrowed at the response, but she stopped a few feet away and crossed her arms. The three-eyed girl looked almost cocky, but something didn’t seem true in that impression.

“You’ve gone soft Blight.” Boscha spoke in a taunting tone, Mittens 2.0 just continued to stare back at her as if she hadn’t said a word. “First you stop hanging with us, then you help the human with Grom, and now you’re fighting Half a Witch’s battles.”

“Half a Witch?” Mitten’s 2.0 asked this in a curious manner and watched Boscha visibly tense. The three-eyed witch all but growled her next words.

“Willow Park! You know, the girl you claimed you were never friends with? The one you suddenly seem to be besties with again.”

“Willow isn’t half a witch.” Mittens 2.0 corrected Boscha and watched the other girl throw her hands up in frustration.

“This is what I mean?! What is your problem lately?!” Boscha yelled. Neither she nor Mittens 2.0 paid any mind to the students who suddenly began to clear the hallway swiftly. While many found watching fights entertaining, no one wanted to be in the crossfire of Boscha or any of the Blight siblings in a fight. In fact, the only students not retreating were a handful of individuals actually jogging over to the two.

“Amity! There you are!” Willow exclaimed, immediately latching onto Mittens 2.0’s arm as she and Gus arrived. Gus looked nervous as Boscha tossed glares at the two.

“Go play with your human, Half a Witch!” Boscha barked, but Willow only glared at her. Willow’s green eyes glowed briefly, and a few vines sprouted from spaces nearby. The glow faded as Willow took a deep breath, and she leveled a sarcastic smile toward Boscha.

“We actually need Amity for something, so sorry, Boscha.” Willow’s tone was that false sweet that made clear she was not, in fact, sorry to be intervening.

“Boscha, hey we’re going to be late.” That was Skara, backed by the other Grudgby players. She caught Boscha’s arm, as another girl caught the other one. “You know the professor said if we’re late one more time he’s docking our grade.”

“Fine!” Boscha shrugged their hands off, turning and storming off. Skara shot a quick smile at Willow before following Boscha with her teammates.

“So, uh, if she wants to talk to you probably just keep walking next time.” Willow whispered to Mittens 2.0 as she and Gus walked her to her next class.

“Why is she so angry?” Mittens 2.0 whispered back, and Willow winced.

“Boscha is always angry.” Gus said but Willow sighed.

“Not always, but maybe a lot.” The green-eyed witch shrugged. “She and Am. . . She’s been your friend for years and I don’t think she knows why anything changed. She’s also always been pretty mean, so bullying people is kind of how she deals with things.”

“Wait, are you saying Boscha’s sad?” Gus gaped at Willow from Mittens 2.0’s other side.

“Maybe, I really can’t know because it isn’t like she’d talk to me.” The plant track student seemed to rethink that statement. “And the less she talks to me the better. Skara has been nicer lately, maybe she can help Boscha through whatever is going through her head.”

“Good luck, Skara.” Gus muttered looking very happy that wasn’t his task.

“So, to be clear, I am not friends with Boscha?” Mittens 2.0 asked and both Willow and Gus kind of shrugged.

“The last time I saw you two speak Boscha broke your leg and didn’t seem to care she did so.”

“Next time I’ll keep walking.” Mittens 2.0 stated, and Gus laughed as some of the tension from the near fight drained away. 

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“Hey pretty lady.” The creature sitting across from her greeted Lilith as she took the seat his last opponent vacated. He wasn’t capable of smiling, but he sounded as if he would be if he could. “Sure you’re in the right place?”

“Quite.” Lilith said, snapping her fingers and watching Eda’s cloaked figure drop a heavy pouch of coins on the table. The creature’s eyes took in the large pouch with clear surprise. “Shall we play?”

This was how the last few days had gone. Each evening Eda and Lilith would return to the illegal gambling den, the bouncer no longer required bribing. Lilith would play various witches at Hexas Hold’em until sunrise, she rarely lost which made Eda extremely happy. At sunrise they would return to the questionable inn to rest before the next night. Eda had finally disclosed that they were trying to draw enough attention to be invited to the back-room games. Apparently, Eda had won the portal from a wizard in one of those games and was hoping the fool was still hanging about the place. There was the problem that he likely didn’t own another such portal, however, he was their only current lead to the origins of the portal.

To spite the fact that each of these tables was a high stakes game, Lilith found it quite easy to keep up. In fact, she suspected that many of these creatures had less skill and more money to burn. There were a few that put up a challenge, but most didn’t compare to players she once faced for fun. Her current opponent was one of the better players it seemed, but the result was nearly the same. Of ten games he lost nine. Occasionally Lilith would hear a quiet chuckle from Eda, who basically pretended to be some sort of bodyguard under her ridiculous disguise. Tonight, was their fifth such night, and Lilith’s arrival each night began to draw looks of dread from some of the less skilled players.

“Here we go.” Eda whispered to her as the tenth game ended. The younger Clawthorne scooped Lilith’s winnings into a coin pouch as a male witch in nice clothes approached the two. He gave a short bow to Lilith, ignored Eda, and glared at Lilith’s opponent until the creature vacated the table.

“May I ask your name, ma’am?” He directed the question to Lilith who scoffed at him and crossed her arms.

“Why should I give you my name?” She answered his question with a question, and he gave a fake, polite laugh.

“You have been invited to an exclusive game; I merely need to know who it is I am escorting to the back room.”

“Lilly.” Lilith responded, deciding to use Eda’s nickname for her, and the man nodded. He stepped back, gesturing in the direction of the back of the establishment.

“If you will come this way, Miss Lilly.” Lilith stood and nodded to Eda. The two women followed the man through the dingy establishment, until they reached a guarded door on the back wall. Another man waited there and the first spoke to him. “Miss Lilly has been invited to table 3.”

“This way.” Their new guide proceeded them through the door, and if was as if they were in an entirely different building. The hall they passed through was clean, and nicely decorated. At the end of the hall they passed through another guarded door, into a well-lit room with three tables accommodating games of Hexas Hold’em. Wait staff moved through the room providing drinks to the various players and roughly a quarter of those players had bodyguards loitering near them. Their guide pulled out a chair for Lilith at the nearest table, before addressing four other beings at the table. “Miss Lilly has arrived.” He said this as if she’d been expected, then turned to her again. “May I bring you a refreshment?”

“Water will be fine.” Lilith responded, though she was silently dubious of whether she would actually drink anything provided in this room. The man nodded and departed. Lilith smiled at her new opponents with a cold glint in her eye. “What is the buy in?”

“50,000.” A man with a gravelly voice responded as other players began placing coins in the pot. Lilith snapped her fingers and Eda swiftly placed 50,000 worth of their coins in the pot. The man who’d answered Lilith’s query smiled at her with the look of a predator. “Welcome to the game, Miss Lilly.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“Emira, hey!” The twins stopped, both turned and saw Viney jogging to catch up with them. Edric winked at his sister, and wordlessly turned to walk on toward class alone. Emira smiled as Viney closed the distance and slowed to a stop.

“Hi, beautiful.” Emira said in a flirty voice. “Looking for me?”

“Yup.” Viney’s smile didn’t reach her green eyes as she took Emira by the arm and guided her off to the side of the hall, out of the traffic of students coming and going between classes.

“Viney, what are you. . ?” Emira would normally be elated to be all but dragged off by the cute girl, but something seemed off. This was not in character for the interactions she’d had with Viney over their time at Hexside.

“You know Boscha, the Grudgby team captain?” Viney waited for Emira to give her a confused nod. “Well I thought you should know she almost started a fight with Amity last passing period.”

“What? Did you see this? What happened?” Emira almost turned to go find Boscha but Viney hadn’t released her arm. Emira was momentarily reminded just how strong the Beast Keeping Healer was, as she found she could not walk away from her.

“Relax, she isn’t hurt or anything.” Viney offered Emira a reassuring look and the elder Blight calmed slightly. “Willow, Gus, and the Grudgby team intervened.”

“Just how close to fighting were they?” Emira asked in an urgent whisper, causing Viney to lean a bit closer. Some students glanced at the two curiously as they strode past, but thankfully no one was intrigued enough to actually stop.

“Amity looked pretty calm, Boscha though I really thought was about to start throwing fireballs.” Viney looked slightly guilty for some reason. “I tried to get over there when I realized who it was Boscha was yelling at, but Willow and Gus were faster.”

“I’ll have to thank them later.” Emira commented. “Thank you for telling me, you’d better get to class before you’re late.”

“Wait.” Viney still didn’t release her arm, her green eyes full of concern. “You aren’t going to do anything stupid are you?”

“Well I will do something, but not until Ed and I come up with a plan for that delayed prank we owe her.” Emira grinned confidently, leaned in and kissed Viney’s cheek. The Duel Track student blushed, and Emira felt the grip on her arm release. She winked at Viney and slipped back into the thinning sea of students. It seemed she and Ed were going to need to handle Boscha more quickly than planned. If Boscha had tossed a fireball at Mittens 2.0 that would probably have been the end of the illusion clone.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Camila Noceda looked in on the girls’ room and saw both appeared to be fast asleep. King was probably the dark ball at the end of Luz’s bed, though it was hard to see him in the darkness. She smiled before pulling the door quietly shut again. She obviously hadn’t anticipated the additions to her small family, but she couldn’t deny the two brought a bit more life and happiness to the house. She felt terrible that Amity was in the situation she was in, but at least she was safe here with Luz and Camila and not on the streets somewhere.

Camila stopped in the kitchen to make herself a lunch for work. It was quiet and calm in the little house, and she grinned as she noticed one of King’s dog toys beside his food dish. It was placed a little strangely, sitting up in a nearly perfect manner as if one of the girls had positioned it to guard the bowl. Maybe one of them had done so. A light caught her eye, and she turned her head to see Luz’s phone on the counter showing it had begun a system update. She noticed the phone screen was badly cracked, and when she picked it up for a closer look, she found the back camera looked like it was also missing some small pieces of glass.

“Carajita! ¿Por qué no me dijiste que rompiste tu teléfono? Esa chica. (Carajita! Why didn't you tell me you broke your phone? That girl.)” Camila muttered this with annoyance, though she could never stay annoyed at Luz for long. Exasperation might even have been a better term for what she felt. She slipped the phone in her bag, next to her lunch, so she could take it in for repairs on the way home from work in the morning. With that she flipped off the lights, and soon slipped out of the house to head to work.

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Luz was searching the living room very carefully when Amity came downstairs. The green-haired teen stopped, leaning on the handrail of the stairs, and let her gold eyes observe the human teen. Luz literally moved every cushion on the couch, looked behind it, searched under the furniture. Amity finally spoke when she watched the other teen get on her hands and knees to check under the couch a second time.

“What did you lose?” Amity asked. Luz didn’t look up as she answered.

“I can’t find my phone, have you seen it Amity?”

“No, maybe King has it.” She suggested and heard a sigh in return.

“No, I asked him before I started searching.” Luz finally got to her feet, and her brown eyes came over to look at Amity. Luz froze on the spot, and Amity arched a brow at her in confusion. When the other teen continued to stare Amity uncomfortably glanced about, looking for whatever caused that reaction.

“Is there a spider or something?”

“Oh, no.” Luz shook herself and smiled a bit nervously. “You look good, more like yourself but also new . . . I mean, um, the new clothes look nice. Yup, that’s all.”

“You were with me yesterday when your Mom took us shopping.” Amity said slowly, a little confused as to why Luz still seemed a bit dazed.

“Yeah, I mean yes, but it’s a little different seeing you.” Luz blushed, and Amity didn’t miss it this time. The human teen used her hands to make some kind of nervous gesture. “Seeing you in them, I meant it’s different seeing you in. . .” And now her eyes went wide. “You know what? You look nice, that’s what I’m trying to say. The goth look suits you.”

“Thank you.” Amity grinned, it was kind of amusing seeing Luz trip over her words. It reminded Amity of some of the first times they spoke, like at The Knee when Luz fell in the snow and tried to pretend she had meant to fall on her side at Amity’s feet.

“The King is hungry!” King’s voice called out from the kitchen, sounding surprisingly deep and loud for such a tiny demon.

“Coming sire!” Luz yelled in a playful tone, drawing a giggle from Amity as she watched the exchange. Amity finished walking down the stairs, following Luz into the kitchen where they found King standing beside the dog dish with a grumpy look. Luz scooped the demon up, dropping a kiss on his skull like head and causing him to shift from grumpy to amused. Amity missed home but she had to admit these mornings with Luz and King were pretty fun and relaxing. It might be terrible of her to think it, but she enjoyed knowing for certain she would not see her parents at breakfast. No talk of grades, no worries if they would confront her about her renewed friendship with Willow.

“No worrying they will hear about Luz.” Amity whispered quietly to herself.

“What did you say?” Luz turned to her with a smile and Amity smiled back at her.

“I said, can I help?” Amity lied, but Luz didn’t catch it. Instead she waved the other teen over and began explaining how to make waffle batter.


	7. Film

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick notes: 
> 
> I’m sorry folks, I normally post on Saturday or Sunday, but this will be on Monday. I am a little behind this week. I’m glad the foreshadowing last chapter was picked up on, yes, some reviewers were right on point. The mentioned videos are from the episodes “Young Blood, Old Souls” and “The Intruder”.

In the Human World:

Film

Camila Noceda took a seat in the staff cafeteria and reached into her bag for the lunch she’d packed. Her hand found a certain device first, and she pulled Luz’s phone out and set it beside her own. Once she had her lunch out, a simple sandwich and some chips tonight, she found herself contemplating the phone with its cracked screen. Almost absently she reached out, turning the screen on before tapping the image gallery icon. Camila tried not to be nosey, but Luz also normally showed her mother all kinds of images of things. In fact, in reflection, it was a little strange her daughter had yet to show her any images of camp. The most recent image was a video file, the still frame was of Luz laying on her sleeping bag and looking at the camera. Camila tapped play, assuming she was about to hear some tale from camp. Luz’s voice greeted her, and if anything, her tone, and facial expression seemed proud at the start. As she spoke though, Camila was treated to a torrent of her own emotions ranging from disbelief and shock, to pride and fear for her only child. 

“And that’s how we escaped the Emperor. Everyone told me he was the most powerful witch alive. But look at this, Mom!” Luz’s expression bordered on smug in the video as she held up a piece of what might be metal, Camila was not certain. “I chipped off a piece of his mask! I know he’s not invincible now.” Her expression shifted to a sort of distressed and contemplative face. “It’s a strange feeling, having gone through so much, and not having you here to share it with. And I don’t know when or how I’m going to see you again. But I will find my way home to you. I promise. Déjame una luz encendida, te amo. (Leave a light on for me, I love you.)”

Camila sat in stunned silence momentarily, telling herself it must be Luz recording a spoken version of one of her fanfictions. The more she considered that though, the less likely it seemed. After all, Luz was clearly speaking to her in that video, and that emotion on her face was too genuine. She slowly decided to look at other recent images, finding images of King sleeping, images of a woman who easily appeared to be about her own age with gold eyes, pointy ears, and wild gray hair, images of a young boy with an excited smile and pointy ears, a girl with a kind smile, green eyes and pointy ears, images of Amity, and images of Luz with all of them in combination or alone. There was a video with a still shot of King dressed in a tiny cheer leader costume, Camila didn’t play that one as she was sure the dog was adorable, but she had other concerns currently. A few images appeared to be images of physical photos, and in those Luz and her apparent friends (including Amity) all appeared to be dressed for a formal event.

Camila paused on one of the entire group, seeing Luz with her arm around Amity smiling wildly, and Amity looking embarrassed but happy, the girl was blushing very clearly. However concerned many of the other images made her, Camila could not help but smile at that one. All four teens looked happy and based on what she had seen Camila wondered just how often Amity actually relaxed. She sent herself that image, thinking it could serve as a reminder of the happiness she had seen in the two when she inevitably worried over what exactly was going on. The pointed ears on all the people in the images presented an obvious piece of evidence that Luz had lied, because Camila highly doubted all of them were related to Amity. Perhaps the two with the oddly deep green hair were, but others she highly doubted. Another video caught her notice, it showed the gray-haired woman from before but now she was dressed in an old sweatshirt and honestly looked tired. Camila mentally braced herself and hit play.

“Smile! You’re on camera!” Luz’s cheerful voice practically yelled from behind the camera. “One more spell won’t kill you!” The woman let out a groan, one that caused Camila to smile very slightly. That was a sound the mother herself had made more than once when an excited Luz drew a sleepy Camila’s attention. The woman with the gray hair slapped a hand to her forehead, before drawing it down her face in exasperation.

“Fine.” She agreed before shifting slightly and lifting one hand. Camila was not prepared to see the glowing lines left behind by the other woman’s finger as she moved her hand. “Now you see, the spell circle is really key.” She let out an impressive yawn, and sort of wobbled before falling out of the frame. The circle was forgotten as the camera wobbled, giving a half view of the woman face down on a wooden floor.

“Well, looks like one more spell killed Eda.” A voice almost cheerfully declared off screen, just before the video ended. Camila replayed it with wide eyes and played it a third time. She assumed this Eda person wasn’t dead, as she appeared in later images and Luz mentioned her in the most recently recorded video. She was going to need some time to sit with this, all of this, in her mind. She knew technology was really advancing, and Luz loved her videos, but she doubted that glowing circle was created by an app.

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“Luz, this is a terrible idea.” Amity muttered softly to the other girl, as they strode toward the front doors of the school building. Camila had already handled enrollment for the two, so like all the other high school students it was just a matter of picking up schedules and finding their classes.

“Just think of it as an adventure, Amity!” Luz told her, throwing an arm across her shoulders, and waving toward the double doors they were approaching. “And we’re in this together.”

“Right, together.” Amity chewed her lip nervously, adjusting her beanie again to ensure it and her hair covered her ears. Other teens filtered about them, some seeming at ease and others almost looking sick with nerves. The green-haired teen cast her gold eyes about, noting the wide variety of different clothing styles and hair styles. “No uniforms?”

“Only for sports, P.E., or things like cheer.” Luz told her and muttered what sounded like a possible curse word in Spanish. “I have to find out when cheer try outs are.”

“Cheer try outs?” Amity noticed that Luz gave her a shocked look and almost laughed. “Cheer leaders exist in the Isles, but are you actually saying you’re a cheer leader?”

“Wait, why didn’t I see the cheer leaders?” Luz gave Amity a look that seemed almost affronted. “Shouldn’t they have been obvious on game days?”

“Did you actually make it to any of the Grudgby matches?” Amity watched Luz shake her head and offered a shrug. “They change at the match, like the players, so unless you went to the games you wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Oh, here on game days they basically spend the whole day in their uniforms.” The human teen smiled at some memory. “In Junior High I was on cheer, but I have to try out for this year’s high school team.”

“Oh.” Amity averted her eyes and tried not to create a mental image of Luz, cheering on the sidelines of the Grudgby field. Maybe she should go out for Grudgby again, wait no. No, Amity, no.

“Woah, Amity, stop walking.” Luz moved her arm, which Amity had absently walked out from under, and used her hand to catch her friend’s arm. Gold eyes blinked, and the intelligent teen flushed as she realized she had been continuing to walk past as Luz joined a line of students waiting for something. Luz sort of gently tugged her back to her side, with an amused grin. Amity flushed more brightly at the other girl’s next words. “What were you thinking about, Miss Blight?”

“Sports!” Amity winced when her shouted answer caused several heads to turn. She decided to lock her eyes on Luz for now and was treated to the other teen doubled over laughing. A smile slowly came to Amity’s lips, and she resigned herself to the very real possibility of more embarrassing outbursts. It would be fine however, so long as she got to see Luz laugh so openly.

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Eda didn’t say it, but she was actually impressed at how well Lilith played Hexas Hold’em. Once they’d made their way to the high roller tables it of course became harder, however it appeared Lilith herself also became more cunning and ruthless in her style. For several days Eda stood by, playing at being a guard or silent servant, as Lilith racked in winnings. Of course, she lost a few hands, never enough to become even close to being dismissed from the room however. Tonight though, tonight was the chance they’d really been waiting for. Eda had begun to doubt the old cross patch still came to these games, but then he took a seat across the table as the first game of the night began.

“That’s him, Lily.” Eda was bent close to Lilith’s ear as she whispered. “The older wizard who just joined the table.”

“I loath wizards.” Lilith whispered back and Eda smiled behind her mask. “I will enjoy this.”

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Boscha strode down the halls of Hexside with a confidence that was enviable. For the moment she was walking alone, her potions class this period was on the other side of school from her friends’ classes. Other students steered clear of the jock or shouted little cheers. The team had won their match yesterday, so today Boscha was on top of the world. She turned a corner into a less traveled hall and stopped in confusion as she spotted Edric Blight leaning against a bank of lockers. The Illusion Track teen straightened when he noticed Boscha, offering her a charming smile as his gold eyes locked onto her. She crossed her arms and tried to ignore that when he stood straight, she had to look slightly up at him.

“What? Has Amity sent her big brother to have words with me?” The Grudgby Captain sneered at Edric whose smile suddenly turn predatory. Boscha felt chilled to spite herself, the twins were pranksters, but they were still powerful in their own right.

“Not I!” Edric declared, reaching out and knocking on the nearest locker for seemingly no reason. “I’m really just the handsome delivery boy.”

“What are you . . ?” Boscha heard something sort of swish behind her, and before she could turn a lasso of illusion magic wrapped about her shoulders and she was yanked from her feet. She basically flew backward, shutting her eyes momentarily as she slammed hard onto a stone floor in a room she had never seen.

“Hello, Boscha.” Emira’s voice was cold as she stepped into Boscha’s view. Boscha began to struggle, but Emira drew a quick circle with her hand and suddenly Boscha was cocooned from the top of her shoulders all the way to her feet. The Potions student struggled, but whatever spell was holding her slightly tightened so she was forced to stop. Emira knelt near her head, and Boscha honestly could not remember ever seeing the older Blight sibling look so angry. “We need to have a talk.”

Standing out of Boscha’s line of sight in the secret room of short cuts Viney winced. Emira had promised not to do anything irreversible, but she almost felt bad for Boscha. The Grudgby Captain was tough, probably one of the most feared students in school, but Emira was a sight to be seen when it came to defending her siblings. As she turned that thought over in her head, she supposed it made since that a top Illusions student would be as capable of intimidating as she was of charming those around her.

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After hours of play the gambling place began to close as the sun rose above the Boiling Isles. Eda slipped out the back door, the exit used by the high rollers, and waited in the alley as the final hand was being played. Players meandered out a few at a time, finally the Wizard and Lilith came out. Lilith was doing a fine job of charming the man, acting as if she was hanging on his every word. He was so focused on Lilith he never saw Eda’s masked figure coming, and soon he was knocked unconscious. Lilith raised an eyebrow even as she helped Eda lift the unconscious wizard.

“When you said you had a plan and to charm him, I did not expect your plan to be assault.” Lilith whispered to her sister.

“Gotta go with the flow, Lily.” Eda replied, grinning behind her mask. Lilith was less surprised than she should be when the staff at the questionable inn did not even bat an eye seeing them carry the unconscious wizard to their small room. They had tied him to a chair and had a light breakfast before the wizard began to regain consciousness. He jolted in his chair, looking around in alarm and confusion.

“Where am I? Who are you? What do you want?” He asked as he struggled against the rope holding him.

“Oh relax, Philip.” Eda drawled and his eyes moved to regard the witch. Eda stood confidently, dressed in her usual red dress and minus the mask now. He was clearly surprised, and Eda smirked at him. “Bet you never expected to see me again.”

“Eda.” His tone was resigned. “I thought you were petrified or something.”

“Ha, you wish!” She came a bit closer and crossed her arms. “Those Emperor’s goons could never hold me.”

“What do you want and who’s your pretty friend?” He asked, craning his neck to look past Eda at Lilith. The former Coven Leader gave him a disinterested look and he squinted at her. “You know, you look familiar too now that I think about it.”

“Don’t you mind that.” Eda moved to block his view of her sister and leaned a little closer. “We happen to be in the market for another portal to the human world.”

“Another one?” He gave Eda a disbelieving look. “What could you possibly do with a second one?”

“Never you mind what I want with it, stick to business. I know you have another one and I want it.” She glared at him and watched him squirm a bit.

“How do you know I have more?” When he asked this Eda smiled and he growled. “Look, those aren’t easy to come by, I can’t just give you another one!”

“You didn’t give me the first one, I won it fair and square.”

“I still think you cheated.”

“Can you two please focus?” Lilith asked as she came to stand beside her sister, looking down at the bound man. “Obviously, you would not part with it for free, so let us discuss an arrangement.”

“Arrangement?” He seemed to calm slightly as he regarded the two of them. He still seemed unhappy, but he was mulling something over.

“Come now, there must be something you would exchange the portal for.”

“Actually, I do need a favor.” He began to grin, and the sisters exchanged a look. “There’s a certain item I’ve been trying to acquire. I know where it is, and how to get to it, but I can’t make the trip. I was going to hire some fools to go retrieve it, but if you do so I could trade you a portal.”

“Now wait a second, just how dangerous is this?” Eda asked.

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{Hey twins! We need your help for something.} From the Original to Rookies of B.G.C.

{All of us, or just Ed and Em?} From Willow to the group chat.

{Sorry kiddo, I’d really like to just have the older kids on this one.} From the Original to the group chat.

{Where are you and what do you need?} Emira to the group chat.

{Just meet us at The Knee Thursday night and we’ll explain everything there.} From the Original. {Oh and expect to be gone all weekend.}

{Be careful.} From Willow to the group chat.

{You worry too much, kiddo.} From the Original to the group chat.

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Amity growled slightly at her human style locker, annoyed at the dial which did not seem to want to co-operate with her. Luz had shown her how to use it twice already, and her pride balked at the idea of asking Luz for help again. After three tries and three fails, she glanced about to ensure no one was paying any attention to her. She used her body to shield the small glowing circle she created with her finger, grinning as the lock popped and she was finally able to open the metal door. She’d have to thank Emira for insisting she learn that spell, it only worked on simple locks, but it would seem it had finally paid off. Hexside lockers were much easier to deal with than these inanimate imitations, it was surprising the things you missed about home.

“Hey baby, are you new here?” The voice of a boy interrupted Amity’s thoughts as she retrieved textbooks from the locker. The green haired teen jumped slightly, but only because she was afraid that he had seen her spell. She turned her head to find a very tall, blonde, human boy wearing a letterman jacket leaning against a nearby locker. He didn’t look surprised or scared so Amity assumed he hadn’t seen her use a spell to open the locker.

“Yes, I’m new.” She replied in a voice that she hoped sounded neutral. She didn’t want to prolong the conversation, but she also didn’t want to draw attention by seeming overly rude. She turned her gold eyes back to what she was doing, closing the locker as she finished. “And don’t call me baby.”

“Oh, well maybe if you told me your name. . .” He started but trailed off as Amity spoke again.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not interested in talking to you.” She told him bluntly. She heard someone nearby, probably one of the boy’s friends, coughing to try to hide a laugh. The boy stood there with a slacked jaw for a long moment, and if Amity weren’t waiting for Luz she would have walked away.

“Okay.” He nodded along with some thought in his own mind, and the green haired teen held back a sigh. She could already see he was not going to leave that easily. “You’re busy, I can feel that.” Amity felt one of her eyebrows raise, feel what? “How about this, you, me, Friday, at the movies?”

“No.” Amity turned to lean on her locker, intent on ignoring the boy now. There was more muffled laughing, but the witch just ignored that as well and simply stared at the row of lockers across the hall from her own.

“Not the movies?” He moved to stand in front of her, clearly trying to force her to pay attention to him. “How about ice cream? Maybe a walk in the park?”

“Give it up, Todd!” Someone yelled and the boy turned his attention to make a rude gesture at the person who spoke. “She’s not interested man!” The person yelled again to Todd.

“They’re right, I’m not.” Amity stated and Todd’s blue eyes landed back on her. “It doesn’t matter what you invite me to.”

“Oh, do you have plans on Friday already?” He asked, seeming to be unfamiliar with being turned down.

“Amity!” Luz’s voice interrupted the two, and Amity couldn’t hold back an amused smile as the Latina ducked past Todd to her side. Luz greeted her friend with a hug as she spoke. “Sorry I kept you waiting, I had to ask my last teacher something.”

“We were talking.” Todd said unhappily, and Luz turned to look at him with such an innocent look his expression swiftly shifted to confusion.

“Actually, you were talking. I was waiting for my girlfriend.” Amity said, reaching out for Luz’s hand and praying she’d just go along with the lie. Luz shot Amity a curious look, but grinned and moved to lean into her side without missing a beat.

“Girlfriend?” Todd looked back and forth between the two, before the guy who’d yelled at him came walking over. His friend grabbed him by the arm, muttered an apology and dragged the tall blonde away.

“What just happened?” Once the boys were out of ear shot Luz whispered near Amity’s ear.

“Guy kept asking me out and every time I said no, he just asked about a different activity.” Amity whispered back, offering a grateful smile to Luz. “Sorry, now anyone that saw that is going to think we’re dating.”

“Aww, Amity I don’t mind.” Luz laughed and started tugging Amity toward the exit. “They’ll just think I have a sweet, pretty girlfriend; I don’t see the downside of that.”

“Uh.” Amity choked slightly on air, and just followed Luz wordlessly for a while.

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{Hey Emira.} From Viney to Emira B.

{Hey, gorgeous!} From Emira B. to Viney.

{So, uh tomorrow is Friday.} From Viney to Emira B.

{It is.} From Emira B. to Viney.

“Em, you done packing yet?” Edric called from the hallway, reminding Emira she had been packing an overnight bag before her scroll chimed. She set aside her scroll, quickly packing the things she would need for the weekend and hoping they’d return by Monday. Edric came to lean on the doorframe of her bedroom, already changed and packed just as Emira picked her scroll back up. He gave a curious look as Emira let out a pained groan, typing swiftly away to send a message back. “You okay there, Em?”

{Are you free tomorrow afternoon? Maybe we could do something?} Viney to Emira B.

{I wish I could, but I have a family thing, I won’t even be at school tomorrow.} Emira ignored her brother as she typed the return message. {I’d rather be in your wonderful company, but my parents insisted on taking all of us with them. Can we do something another time, cutie?}

{Yeah, of course. Just let me know when you’re free.} Viney to Emira B.

“If we don’t get Mittens back soon, I swear to the Titan I am going to kill the Owl Lady and her sister.” She said and her brother smirked. She gave him a look that clearly said she was not in the mood for jokes. He didn’t crack, in fact he actually made a goofy face that finally caused Emira to crack a smile. “You’re an idiot.”

“So, was that Viney?” Edric knew the answer, and when Emira returned to looking frustrated he came over and gave her a hug. “Hey, we’ll get Mittens and her girlfriend back, and then you can go take your girlfriend out on a date.”

“She isn’t my girlfriend yet, and if I keep dodging date number two, she probably won’t ever be.” Emira lamented and Edric winked.

“More reason we should tell her what’s going on.” He kind of sang to his sister and got a glare in return. “Send her flowers.” Edric suggested with a grin. “Work your Emira Blight magic, she’ll forgive you for the delay. We should really get moving, it’s going to take us a while to get to The Knee for this mysterious quest the Owl Lady mentioned.”

Emira watched her brother bounce out of her room, smiling slightly as she thought about that suggestion. Viney was tough but sweet, what kind of flower would suit her? Or maybe she could rush order some candy?

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They were sitting on the couch, doing homework, when Luz heard Amity start mumbling. She glanced at her, the green haired girl was reading a play book, and once Luz squinted and read the title, she thought she could guess what was wrong. The Crucible was not something she would have ever handed to any of her witch friends.

“Yeah, haha, everything connected to the Salem Witch Trials is pretty terrible.” Luz commented, and gold eyes shifted from the book to look at her. She couldn’t see Amity’s expression as most of her face was still hidden behind the book, and Luz fought back a smile. Something about the suspicious eyeing over the book was far cuter than it had any right to be.

“What are the Salem Witch Trials? Why did they write plays about them? And did they actually believe any of this?” Amity asked in a very disturbed voice, and the human teen grimaced. She reached over, tugged the book out of Amity’s hands, and tossed it vaguely at an armchair. Gold eyes watched the book fly and land before coming back to Luz.

“It’s a long story but basically people were really afraid of witches, I think it was mostly for religious reasons, and everyone got a bit crazy. I don’t really know why anybody wrote a play about it but they make us all read it sometime.” Luz waved her hands about as she considered the third question. “I kind of doubt there were any real witches around the area for them to catch, and even if there had been I mean. . . I just really don’t think they caught any.”

“Humans catch witches and put them on trial?” King interrupted the two and laughed. “Yeah, not a chance. Human’s wouldn’t be any match for witches, especially back in the days before Belos.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Luz looked over at King and he waved the question away.

“You don’t count Luz, you’re kind of a witch now.” He said and Luz heard Amity muffle a giggle at the offended look Luz gave King. She was offended as a human, but also kind of happy he didn’t lump her in with the rest of her species.

“I’d show you a documentary or something, but I still can’t find my phone.” Luz said, and they both jumped when Camila’s voice interjected from the staircase.

“I took your phone to get repaired, mija, it should be ready on Monday.”

“Mami!” Luz popped to her feet like she’d been caught doing something wrong, and Amity just schooled her expression back to a calm façade as Camila finished coming down the stairs. “Did you have a good dream?”

“I was a little restless.” Camila said, shifting her eyes between Amity and Luz with curiosity filling them. “I thought I heard another voice down here.”

“What? No!” Luz laughed nervously and cast about her mind for an excuse. “I was just doing an impression, of a guy we met earlier.”

“Oh?” Camila was watching Luz very carefully and both teens felt like they’d missed something.

“Yup, uh Tad?” Luz offered and Amity broke the tension with a short, amused, laugh.

“His friend called him Todd.” She corrected and Luz grinned.

“Right, Todd.” Luz shrugged. “He kept trying to ask Amity out, his friend had to pull him away finally.”

“Are you okay, dear?” Whatever had been on Camila’s mind was apparently washed away at hearing that. She looked at Amity with such concern and kindness that the young witch was still amazed by her kind heart.

“Oh, I’m fine, really.” She offered her own reassuring smile. “He was just annoying, and I doubt he’ll bother me again.”

“If he does tell me and I’ll call the school.” Camila said and both teens agreed but silently hoped that didn’t happen. The elder Noceda kissed Luz’s cheek and told her to get back to her homework. Once Camila disappeared into the kitchen Luz finally let out a sigh of relief.

‘That was close.’ She mouthed silently to Amity who nodded in agreement. King, of course, didn’t see a problem and just plodded after Luz’s mother into the kitchen.


	8. Gamble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy and review!

In the Human World:  
Gamble

The Knee was cold and covered in snow, and the hour of night really didn’t help that. Emira adjusted her fur hat and Edric tugged his gloves as if to make sure they would not slip off. They set their bags down on a flat rock nearby, and Edric leaned against that rock as they waited. Emira crossed her arms and watched the trees. The Knee was not unfamiliar territory, however they normally had more of an idea what they were planning to do here. Also, their last trip here had been more eventful than intended.

“I see something.” Edric said, and Emira turned her head to find he was pointing behind them. Just above the trees two figures on staves were flying their way. Emira wasted no time once the elder witches landed, skipping pleasantries, and getting to the point.

“What do we need to do?” Emira asked, causing Eda to smirk.

“Someone’s in a hurry.” She remarked, elbowing Lilith who rolled her eyes at her sister.

“You made her miss a date.” Edric chimed in and Eda laughed as Emira lightly shoved her brother. He grinned, clearly not bothered. “Why are we here though?”

“Well, I’m sure you remember when we faced the Slither Beast together?” Eda supplied, ignoring how Lilith looked at her curiously.

“How could we forget?” Emira answered.

“Yeah, that was terrible.” Edric finished as he threw in an exaggerated shudder.

“We’re facing it again.” Eda told them happily and the twins exchanged a look that spoke volumes. “What? You don’t think we can?”

“Why” Emira started as both twins locked eyes on Eda in particular.

“would we” Edric’s expression was filled with disbelief.

“ever intentionally” Emira’s tone held contempt.

“do that again?” Edric finished their statement with a note of curiosity.

“Please cut back on the creepy twin routine.” Eda said wryly, but the twins just continued to stare.

“We have located another portal, however in order to attain it we must trade something rare and valuable.” Lilith began to explain, and the twins’ gold eyes shifted silently to the former coven leader. She was more experienced with the twins’ behavior, having been around the Blight family more often than Eda. “The Wizard who has the portal will give it to us, in exchange for a young Slither Beast.”

“How young?” Emira asked, looking at Lilith with clear suspicion.

“We have to kill a Slither Beast?” Edric chirped, clearly looking doubtful of this venture.

“We need the thing alive.” Eda said, stressing the last word.

“And as young as we can find, a baby if possible.” Lilith elaborated.

“Oh, well that sounds easy.” Emira mocked. “We just need to subdue a large, protective, adult Slither Beast without letting it’s baby escape and while capturing it alive.”

“Say Em, I think we should call in an expert.” Edric said this quietly, but all three heard him clearly.

“Even if we do call her, I don’t think she’s going to jump at the chance to hunt a baby Slither Beast.” Emira and Edric eyed each other. The male twin swiftly dissolved into giving his sister a look like a wounded puppy. Eda and Lilith silently observed the stare off, until Emira’s shoulders sagged and she sighed heavily. “I’ll call her, but I can’t promise anything.”

“You can charm her; I believe in you!” Edric cheered and Emira huffed before stalking away. She only summoned her scroll once she was out of earshot of the other three.

“Who is she calling, kid?” Eda asked.

“Her girlfriend is in the beast keeping track.” Edric said and Eda gave a short laugh.

“Well, that’s convenient.”

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

It felt like the last two days of shifts had been abnormally long. Camila Noceda was very tired, but her head was simply too filled with thoughts to really find rest. She parked her car and simply watched the world around it for a few moments. She still was not sure what to do with the information she had recently learned but she knew that she had to decide on some course of action. She had just climbed out of the car when Luz came practically barreling down the street on her bicycle skidding to a stop near her mother's car. The teen smiled happily even with the early hour at her mother and Camila could not resist returning that smile. 

“Mommy Señora Cortez paid me today!” Luz smiled proudly and started fishing in her pocket with the intent of offering the money to her mother. Camila reached out to still her daughter's hand and then ruffled her hair.

“Keep it Cariño, we're doing fine.”

“But you said . . .”

“It's fine Cariño, I took a few extra shifts and there's nothing to worry about.” She gave her daughter a playful, if tired, smile and nodded toward the house. “Maybe you should take Amity to go do something after school.”

“Really? You’re sure?”

“You two should go have some fun cariño.”

Once they entered the house, they each split into their morning routines. Luz and Amity got ready for school; Camila fed King then began to wind down from her workday over breakfast with the girls. Later Camila watched until the girls turned the corner on their walk to school, before going back inside the house. She knew she should get to bed; she had worked a twelve hour shift last night, but her mind was still full of questions and unexpected information. With a tired expression she noticed King on the couch with one of his plush squeaky toys and smiled slightly. 

“Ven aquí, bebé. (Come here, baby.)” Camila scooped the little creature up, cradling him on his back in one arm and scratching his belly with her free hand. King made a weird squeak before relaxing into her arm. “At least I understand you.” She commented, moving her hand to scratch his chin.

“I know you can’t tell me the things I need to know, bebé, but I just need someone to listen.” King wiggled, until he could climb from Camila’s arms to settle in her lap and curl up. She smiled a little more fully, petting him as she began to speak out her thoughts. “I know they lied to me, and I now know they were not at camp this summer.” She could have sworn King twitched, but she just patted him in a soothing manner. “As a concerned mother I’m worried, and angry that they lied to me. . .” She shook her head and sighed. “They looked so happy in those images though, Luz looked so happy in those images. Wherever she was, she clearly made real connections which has never come easily to her.”

“Some of those pictures though, there were several things I can’t explain. ¿En qué se ha metido mi chica? (What has my girl gotten herself into?)”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Emira woke up to Edric poking her shoulder just after sunrise. She slapped at his hand and tried to roll away from him, but that was when the cold air leaking into the tent sunk into her. Emira groaned and did her best to burrow into her sleeping bag, and Edric again poked at the lump where his twins’ shoulder was.

“What?” Emira murmured and heard a chuckle.

“Breakfast.” Edric said and she felt him stand and move away. “Oh, and Viney is outside.”

Edric did not wait for an answer after that, he slipped out and made sure the flap of the tent was closed. Emira seriously debated staying in the tent to spite her brother, she was not as cheerful as he was this morning. Honestly, it was mostly the smell of food cooking on a campfire that urged Emira to crawl out of the sleeping bag and get ready. It was the fact that Viney was present that made it impossible for her to consider leaving the tent without looking properly put together. Not that she thought Viney would think less of her, she just had no intent of facing a potential girlfriend looking like death warmed over.

“Hurry up, girl twin!” Eda yelled and Emira rolled her eyes. “Your girlfriend brought food!”

“We’re not. . . I mean. . .” Viney’s voice sounded extremely embarrassed.

“Yeah, yeah kid, not girlfriends. Whatever you say.” Eda dismissed whatever Viney had tried to say and Emira distinctly heard Edric laughing.

“Really Edalyn? Must you tease them so crassly?” That sounded like Lilith.

“Must you be such a stick in the mud, Lilly?” Eda replied in what seemed to be an attempt at copying Lilith’s voice.

“There she is!” Edric cried happily as Emira emerged from the tent and gave a practiced smile.

“Uh, hi.” Viney gave a shy wave from where she sat leaning into Puddle’s side. Edric walked over, handed Emira a plate of food and a fork, and sneakily nudged her toward the green-eyed witch. Emira walked over and settled down next to Viney, leaning against Puddle’s warm side as well.

“Hi.” Emira whispered and they smiled at each other. “Thank you for coming to help.”

“Oh, I still think this whole idea is crazy, but I wouldn’t let you face a Slither Beast without help.” Viney grinned at her.

“What are we, chopped liver?” Eda asked.

“Currently?” Edric shot back and the teens shared a laugh that seemed to bleed away any remaining tension.

“So, you know what we are here to accomplish?” Lilith asked Viney.

“You want to find and nab a baby Slither Beast to trade to someone for a favor.” Viney responded, leaning to the side so that she could rest her head on Emira’s shoulder. “And, you realize, you’re going to need help transporting it, don’t you?”

“Are they that large?” Lilith asked and Viney smiled.

“It’s not about size. Have you ever dealt with an angry Slither Beast?” When Viney asked that Edric paled, Emira stiffened, and Eda grinned.

“Some of us have?” Eda replied, slapping Lilith’s shoulder. “Lilly, not so much.”

“We can’t just try to sneak past it while it sleeps?” Edric asked and Viney sat up straight again and fixed her eyes on Edric.

“Actually, Slither Beasts hardly sleep for the first year of their offspring’s life. According to the textbooks they hold up in a den, leaving very rarely to get food or deal with threats. I’m not sure how we’re going to find it’s den.”

“Oh, we probably have that covered, right twins?” Eda asked and both Blight twins shivered slightly. “So, Beast Keeper, could a sleep spell still work on the Slither Beast?”

“It should, but probably not for as long. How are you thinking of doing this?”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

The plan was stupidly simple. Basically, Eda wanted to do almost the same thing Amity and Luz had done to save herself and the twins before. They located the cave to which the slither beast had taken them and found that it was indeed where the beast was laired with its offspring. It was agreed that Eda would lead the slither beast away with Edric and Lilith following. They would attempt to use a sleep spell cast by Edric to subdue the adult slither beast and allow them to escape. As soon as the adult slither beast began to chase those three, Viney and Emira would sneak into the den and capture the baby slither beast. They decided to keep the plan simple so that they could adapt quickly if needed. The girls watched the large beast plow through the snow-covered landscape after the other three and exchanged a nervous look. 

“Well let's get this done.” Viney said, and they began to creep into the beast’s den. They were careful because though the textbooks said the slither beasts raise their young alone, they were still worried another could be nearby. “How did they even know there was a baby?”

“They didn't tell us, and Ed and I were more focused on getting Amity back.” Emira whispered in reply as they looked around. They heard movement and when they looked toward it, they found a slither beast the size of a large cat. “It's so tiny!” Emira gushed, smiling at the adorable little beast.

“Don't forget that even tiny ones are pretty strong.” Viney reminded Emira.

“Right, need to focus.” Emira agreed. She watched the other teen pull some of what appeared to be treats from a pouch and offer them to the tiny slither beast. The little creature looked nervous until it caught the scent of the offered treat. Soon the little creature was cradled in Viney’s arms enjoying another treat. “Wow, you really have a way with beasts, don't you?” 

“I like to think so.” Viney agreed with a proud smile.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Edric hated everything about this quest, why couldn’t they need a bat? Eda had slipped earlier and instead of letting her get grabbed he had jumped out to attract the beast’s attention. The problem: Neither Eda nor Lilith could currently cast a sleep spell, so he was now running from the giant, angry beast himself. He could not cast the sleep spell while it chased him, he needed long enough to draw the circle, and right now he was barely keeping out of arms reach. The snow crunched under his boots, and he vaulted over a fallen log, as he ran toward a nearby set of ruins. He hoped Eda and Lilith were following, but after Eda’s “eat the twins” comment last time he was not sure.

Edric saw a snowy hill and made for it. Instead of running down the hill he threw himself to the snow and rolled down the steep decline, not caring that snow was sticking to everything or that he lost his earmuffs. The world, from his view, became a blur of spinning scenery as he rolled. When he stopped, though he was very dizzy, he lurched to his feet and started stumbling away as fast as he could. He basically ended up on all fours but kept moving. He could not miss the sound of something large behind him.

“Never again.” He muttered to himself as he moved. “Never, never, never again.”

“There he is, Puddles!” Edric suddenly heard Viney’s voice, but he really was not sure from where. He was jerked to a stop soon after though, well sort of. He was grabbed and jerked up into the sky and out of the reach of the angry beast below. Edric felt his stomach lurch and groaned, the world was still spinning and the sudden change in altitude did not help. 

“Ed, you okay?” That was definitely Emira’s voice, and Edric realized he was being carried by Puddles. The griffin’s claws were surprisingly gentle as they cradled him and slowly the spinning was starting to calm down. “Ed?”

“Good!” He yelled back, his voice cracking slightly. “All good!”

“Hang on down there! Going to head back to Eda and Lilith!” Viney called out to warn him, before Puddles began to make a wide turn to the left. Edric shut his eyes and held his stomach through the rest of the short ride. They swooped down, and Puddles dropped Edric over a deep snowbank, before landing near the older witches. Emira slipped down from the griffin’s back and jogged over to help her brother out of the snow.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Emira started dusting snow off her brother’s shoulders and out of his hair as he brushed more from the front and sleeves of his jacket.

“That was crazy.” Edric told her, giving her one of his wide eyed, surprised looks. Emira smiled, it was clear he wasn’t hurt if he was already starting to play the joker again. “Did you get it?”

“Yeah, the little one was literally eating out of Viney’s hands.” Emira hugged her brother with a laugh. “You did not stick to the plan.”

“Had to save the old lady.” Edric told her as they started walking closer to the others.

“I heard that kid.” Eda glared at him but there was no real malice in the expression. “That was brave but stupid. I see why Luz likes all of you.”

“So, how are we doing this?” Viney asked, and everyone turned to look at her. She had the small Slither Beast in a baby carrier strapped to her chest, as it munched on something she had given it. Edric blinked in surprise.

“Wow, it really likes you.” He commented, awe filling his voice.

“We really can do the rest on our own.” Eda moved to approach Viney and the baby Slither Beast made a weird hissing sound. Viney quickly soothed the little creature and the adult witches shared a defeated look. “Alright, group trip it is then. Glad you won so many snails Lilly, we’re gonna need more than one room this time.”

“We have our staves but the trip there will take at least a day by air.” Lilith informed them.

“Emira and Edric can ride with me and Puddles.” Viney said cheerfully.

“And the griffin will be able to carry all of you?” Lilith eyed the young griffin, who was pouncing on what appeared to be a dead leaf nearby.

“Oh yeah, no sweat. Puddles is a champ!”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

If you were a Plant Track student the green houses of Hexside were like a second home, a place one could relax and work away their stress. Work away their worries. Willow Park may have been fairly new to the track, but she showed so much talent with plants that she had nearly half a greenhouse dedicated to her personal projects. Willow hummed happily to herself as she carefully pruned the fire lilacs in the back corner of the green house. This was very much Willow’s home away from home, where she could feel safe, in control, secure.

“Willow! There you are!” She jumped slightly, turning to see two familiar upper classmen approaching. Two of the Duel Track students in fact. Jerbo, who’d spoken, was the first to reach Willow followed by Barcus a minute or two later. Jerbo offered her a shy smile. “Hey Willow. Glad we caught you before you left.” Barcus made a few bark and growl sounds. “Right Barcus. We’re hoping we can go with you today.”

“Go with me where?” Willow’s voice was a bit higher pitched than normal and she nearly winced as she heard it.

“To see Luz.” Jerbo’s reply was accompanied by Barcus barking his agreement. “We thought we’d take her make up assignments to her, but the teacher said you’ve been picking it up every day. So, do you want any help with these plants before we go?”

“Oh, no, no it’s fine. I’m almost done, why don’t you two wait outside. I just need to call my parents and clean up, then we can go.” She gave them both a smile and Jerbo was quick to agree. As soon as he and Barcus were out, with the door shut behind them, she summoned her scroll. Since they could still see her Willow forced herself to keep smiling as she brought up a video call. The person she called did not get a chance to greet her when their image appeared on the screen. “Jerbo and Barcus are coming with me to the house today, I’ll stall as long as I can, but they are convinced they’ll see Luz.”

“Stall!” The call ended quickly, and Willow glanced about for as many small things to do as possible before they left.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Willow distracted Jerbo with conversation about as many of the plants along the path as she could. Because Jerbo was both Plant and Abomination track, Willow had a unique understanding of him out of all the Duel Track students. Barcus patiently followed them, waiting for them each time Willow pulled Jerbo aside to discuss another tree, bush, or flower. Willow could not be certain, but the walk to the Owl House seemed to take twice as long as it normally would. Eventually though, they entered the clearing in which the house rested, and Hooty immediately elongated toward them. Willow did not miss that Jerbo and Barcus both shuddered slightly watching the house demon curl out in a seemingly endless, brown, tube of whatever made up his form.

“Oh, we have guuesssttttsss.” Hooty said as he brought his face close to Jerbo and eyed him closely. “You’ve only been here once, are you sure you’re allowed? Eda doesn’t like trespassers, you know.”

“Hooty, they’re fine, I promise.” Willow assured him, and the house demon moved to sort of nuzzle Willow’s hair. She bit her lip and patted the demon’s head when he backed off, she was mostly used to his antics. “So, can we see Luz?”

“You’ll have to ask Eda, come in.” Hooty retracted, and when he was back in his resting spot in the door it swung backward to admit them. They passed him as they entered the living room, Jerbo and Barcus only for the second time, and Willow with the familiarity of a regular visitor.

“Eda?” Willow called as Hooty shut the door behind the three again. The young witch did not know what she was expecting, but it certainly was not to have Eda herself walk into the living room with a measuring look.

“Hey kid, brought Luz her class work again?” The gray-haired witch crossed her arms and eyed them. “I don’t think she’s up to visitors, been asleep or vomiting all day. Ghastly sight, really gross.”

“Are, uh, you okay?” Jerbo asked, sounding concerned. “You sound a little different.”

“I feel like . . . Ya know what kid, never mind.” Eda waved off the question. “If you want go up and say hello but don’t wake her if she’s asleep. Oh, and don’t get too close.” Her last remark caused Barcus to make a few enquiring sounds.

“Uh, Barcus asked what is too close and why?” Jerbo translated.

“Well earlier she projectile vomited on me, and now my voice sounds like this.” She quirked a weird grin at the three. “As for how far, well I haven’t figured out yet just how far the vomit can fly.”

“Uh, maybe we’ll just say hello from the door?” Jerbo looked at Barcus who made an affirmative sound. Willow laughed uneasily and led the way up the stairs to the storage room Luz used as a bedroom. It was somehow simultaneously a shorter, and longer walk than it normally would be.

“Okay, here we are, uh just wait for me to see if Luz is awake and, uh, presentable.” Willow said and the boys nodded, looking genuinely scared after the conversation with Eda. She knocked lightly on the door, hearing a groan in response. Willow closed her green eyes, sent a silent prayer to the Titan, and then cracked the door enough to look around the doorway. Inside the room was what appeared to be a sick Luz, eyes half open and her skin almost grayer than brown. She was laying on her sleeping bag in the clothes she wore when she helped Eda at the stand, and there seemed to be a couple weird stains on the shirt. Willow grimaced, honestly to her Luz looked as if she were half dead. “He. . . Hey Luz. Uh, Jerbo and Barcus are here?” Another groan was the only answer.

“Is she okay?” Jerbo asked as Willow turned back to the boys with a shaky smile.

“Oh, she’s been this way. It’s a human, uh, illness. Just has to run its course.” Willow pushed the door fully so the two boys could come stand at the door to say hello. Jerbo visibly paled, and Barcus shuddered at the sight.

“Hey Luz.” Jerbo said, and Barcus woofed softly. Luz groaned, head lulling to look roughly in their direction. “Uh, we just wanted to uh, see you and. . . And uh, wish you well?”

“Luz, are you. . ?” She wasn’t able to finish, Luz groaned loudly and mumbled something that sounded like ‘gonna’. The boys bolted for the stairs, and Willow yanked the door shut swiftly. The sounds of retching were loud, and sickeningly wet. Willow grimaced again as she followed the boys at a slower pace. When she made it to the bottom of the stairs Eda was silently watching Jerbo stutter out some kind of apology, crossed with a farewell. Barcus and Jerbo shifted attention to Willow for a few moments, ensuring she didn’t wish to leave with them, before they hurriedly departed the Owl House.

“That was fun.” Eda said, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“I’m the greatest, I’m the best.” Gus sang as he came down the stairs. Willow turned to watch her friend, smiling indulgently as he did a victory dance at the bottom. “Uh huh, oh yeah!” She giggled as he basically moonwalked.

“Luz looked like she was about to die.” She told him and he laughed.

“Well I mean, I wanted them to get scared off quickly.” Gus shrugged. “Can you think of a better way?”

“I think Eda’s fang was on the wrong side.” Willow said this and sighed.

“Well, always room to improve. You know that voice could have been so much better if I knew how the twins made Mittens 2.0.” He saw Willow roll her eyes and crossed his arms. “Admit it, having a Luz 2.0 would make this all a lot easier.”

“Gus. . .”

“How much magical energy do you think they use to maintain her?” Gus was clearly back to fanboying over the advanced illusion clone.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Since it was a Friday evening today was the start of the weekend for all the students at Luz’s school. After getting home Luz and Amity quietly deposited their schoolbags in the living room and located King. The three of them departed again with Luz excitedly leading the way. She had decided to introduce her two friends to one of her favorite human world treats, ice-cream. The walk to the nearest ice-cream shop was not far and other than a few strange looks and questions about King’s appearance nothing of note happened on the way to the shop. They ordered some ice-cream; a cup of chocolate for Amity, a scoop of vanilla for King, and a cup of mint chip for Luz, and found a table with their treats. King for his part did not seem to care that he had to sit on the floor by the outdoor table with his little cup of ice-cream, instead he just happily licked at his treat.

“This is really good.” Amity praised the treat with a smile.

“Want to try some of mine?” Luz offered, scooping a spoonful, and offering her spoon to the other teen. Amity paused, eyed the spoon, then eyed Luz, before taking the spoon and trying the mint chip ice-cream. She mumbled happily about the flavor as she passed Luz’s plastic spoon back to her. Both girls were blushing slightly, though neither noticed the other was also blushing.

“Yup, really good.” Amity mumbled again, a shy smile on her face.

“I still can't believe they don't have ice-cream on the Isles.”

“You said it was made from cow’s milk?” Amity smirked. “I don't believe we have cows.”

“Oh, I guess that would make it hard. They make special ice-cream for those who are lactose intolerant out of something else but I'm not sure what they use.” Luz informed her before they were interrupted by a tall blonde jock.

“Oh, it’s Amity and . . .” He squinted his blue eyes at Luz. “Nosensa?”

“Noceda, Luz Noceda.” Amity corrected before Luz had even considered it. The green-haired teen gave the boy a cold look.

“Did you need something?” Luz asked, giving the boy a friendly smile even though she did not welcome his presence.

“From you?” He gave her a very dismissive look. “Naw.” Someone nearby chuckled and Luz’s brown eyes caught Amity’s hand twitching before the teen witch fisted it. The boy’s eyes caught on King and took a small step back before looking at Luz again. “Where the heck did you find that thing? That is the ugliest dog I have ever seen!”

“King is not ugly.” Luz said. Though she was generally a happy person, her voice shook a bit with her attempt not to sound angry. She could not exactly blurt out he’s the King of Demons at some random human teen.

“Here’s an idea, why don’t you leave us alone?” Amity said, and somehow her tone reminded Luz of back when they first met. She looked over, and Amity’s eyes were half lidded, her face expressionless but somehow calculating, as it used to be when she walked the Hexside halls with Boscha and her gang. She had not seen this side of Amity since they ended up in the Human World, but it looked like the jock had rubbed Amity the wrong way.

“Hey, sweet thing, I just want to be friends.” He said and his full attention was now on Amity. “I mean, I don’t know if you realize, but your girlfriend is kind of a social outcast.” He jerked a thumb to indicate Luz who silently ground her teeth. “Even if you bat for the same team as me, I could introduce you to some much hotter girls.”

“If I what?” Amity’s tone was ice cold now and Luz felt like laughing and cringing at the same time. There was no way Amity understood what that saying meant, and yet she still clearly was rejecting the idea. “Listen, Tad.”

“Todd.” He said in a voice that sounded slightly insulted. Amity did not soften in the slightest, she looked at him in a dismissive manner and shrugged.

“I thought I had made this clear before, I have no interest in talking to or befriending you.” Her gold eyes shifted briefly to Luz, seeming to check on her reaction to this conversation, before looking at the boy again. “The only thing I want from you is for you to leave my girlfriend and I alone.”

“Hey I’m. . .” Whatever he was going to say cut off with a yelp as he stumbled backward from their table shaking one leg. Luz’s eyes widened in surprise as she processed what just happened, and watched Todd walk away cursing with one pant leg wet. Amity and Luz both looked under the table to find a very self-satisfied King and a small puddle of urine that had not ended up on Todd’s shoe and pant leg.

“That was so wrong, King.” Luz whispered but she was fighting a smile. Amity on the other hand was coughing to try to hide her laugh. Amity’s cough was not convincing, and it was causing Luz to have a really hard time not smiling. “We should probably go. Like, now.”

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH


	9. Hoodwinked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On 1NOV2020 a quick edit was made to Spanish dialogue thanks to reviewer feedback. Please keep letting me know if you see errors.

In the Human World:  
Hoodwinked

Three teens, two wearing recently acquired, patch work cloaks, perused a small supply shop. The male teen winked one golden eye every time a boy his age passed by, which caused his twin sister to roll her eyes and smirk at his antics. The shorter girl, with a fishhook in one ear, examined the goods on the shelves. The shop catered to Beast Keepers and Animal Control witches, it boasted a selection of cages, collars, leashes, whips, chains, and other various tools of the trades. Behind the shop keeper’s counter was a display of various potions for treatment of beasts and creatures of all types. On the long trip to the unsavory town the three had discussed what they thought would be best for this task, so they were in the market for the right cage.

“What do you two think?” Viney asked the Blight twins, who stood to either side of her. They both leaned forward a bit to inspect the cage Viney had been considering. Emira’s hand, the one holding Viney’s, squeezed a little as she began to smile.

“Should work.” Edric said, as they both moved to stand straight again. He dropped the shackles he’d been playing with for the last five minutes on another shelf. Edric threw the girls a grin as he reached forward to pick up the cage. “I’ll pay and meet you two outside.”

“Are you okay?” Viney whispered to Emira as they exited the shop, drawing a curious look from the female Blight. “Are you tired?”

“Don’t worry about me, sweetie, I’ve kept up illusion spells far longer than this.” Emira cheerfully grinned at the Duel Track student, who could not help but return that infectious smile.

“How can I forget, you’re always up to something.” Her voice became a little teasing. “Just how often are you actually in class?”

“Enough to learn, without getting too terribly bored.” Emira answered cryptically, she waggled her eyebrows at Viney. “You could join us, I’m sure we could pull it off.”

“Oh, thanks beautiful, but with two tracks I need those lessons. I’ll have some catch up to play just ditching Friday.” Viney softened the rejection with a laugh. “Maybe you should get into another track, since you’re so far ahead your bored.”

“My parents would have a fit.” Emira leaned in close to Viney’s face, careful not to lean against her front where the sleeping baby slither beast was hidden by a very careful illusion spell. “I think I can come up with other ideas to occupy my mind. Maybe plan our next date?”

“About that.” Viney tilted her head slightly, looking Emira in the eyes like she was watching for some hidden truth. “Is this why you’ve been so busy? I was starting to wonder if maybe you weren’t so, uh, keen on another date.”

“Viney, no.” Emira squeezed her hand tightly and sighed. “Amity went missing a few nights after our date. I want, very much, to go on more dates with you.”

“Dates, huh?” Viney smiled again with a sparkle in her green eyes and Emira smirked.

“Yes, dates. Not one, many.” Emira whispered and leaned forward to lightly kiss Viney’s lips. It was slightly awkward from ensuring she did not disturb the hidden creature the other teen carried.

“Oh, good! Are you two finally official?” Edric’s voice caused them to break the kiss as Viney chuckled and Emira glared. He grinned and sort of tilted the cage he carried back and forth playfully. “I kept telling Em to tell you what was going on.”

“Luz and Amity didn’t want more people than necessary involved.” Emira reminded him as they began their walk back to the shabby inn.

“Well I’m involved now.” Viney said.

“Yes, but involved with this incident, or with my sister?” Edric teased, and Emira slapped his bicep for the remark.

“Both, I think.” Viney said and she and Emira both blushed.

“Maybe between my sisters and their girlfriends someone can find me a boyfriend.” Edric joked and Viney giggled as Emira smirked.

“Don’t let Mittens hear you say that.”

“Why not? She and Luz are cute together.” Viney watched both twins turn to look at her. “What did I say? They are dating, right?”

“No, actually Mittens can’t bear to tell her and Luz hasn’t noticed.” Emira said this and watched clear disbelief wash across Viney’s face.

“What was Grom about then?” The Duel Track witch gestured around with her free hand. “After defeating Grom together those two were almost inseparable.”

“Welcome to our world, Viney.” Edric grinned deviously. “Want to help us make them crack?”

“Oh, come on, Ed.” Emira’s tone was playfully condescending if that were possible. “There is no way they have been stranded together this long and neither of them confessed.”

“I believe in Mittens’ inability to think straight around Luz.” Edric replied and waggled his eyebrows. “20 snails say Mittens comes home still yearning.”

“30 snails say Luz figured it out but they haven’t been on a date yet.” Emira replied.

“I got another 30 on they’ve been on a date and are official by the time at least one of them returns.” Viney pitched in.

“Okay, I will see you both and raise my bet to 30 snails as well. If nothing has changed between them, I win, if Luz knows or they have confessed but have not been on at least one date Em wins, and if they are a confirmed couple Viney wins. Agreed?”

“Can I get in on this?” Eda’s voice surprised them, she and Lilith were walking up from the left as they reached the inn. When Edric agreed Eda smiled. “I’ll hedge another 30 snails in with girl twin, they’ll confess or some cute stuff but won’t be official.”

“I will add 30 to Edric’s theory, I believe you think the human. . . I mean Luz, will still be unaware and Amity will not say anything?” Lilith watched the disbelieving looks turn her way and smiled confidently. “Being her private tutor for so long, I believe I can confidently say she does not open up about emotions easily.”

“Alright.” Edric pulled out a little notepad and wrote down all their bets.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Amity found that at a basic level there was not a great deal of difference in human school vs. witch school. Sure, it had the fundamental difference of not being about magic, however there were still lecture classes, hands on lessons, homework, and classwork. History class was probably one of the most similar, though also one of the one’s where Amity felt her lack of common knowledge the most. Because of this, Amity had taken to reading her history book when she had finished all of her other homework. It was disconcerting how many references to war there were in human history. Amity found herself rethinking her conviction that humans were fragile, because some of the things they had done in their history were insane. She was reading a chapter about the “Great Space Race” when she yawned, and Luz made a sort of squeal that startled Amity.

“¡Qué lindo! (That’s so cute!)” Luz basically yelled this, staring at her from the other side of the couch with what could only be described as stars in her eyes.

“Um, I have no idea what you just said.” Amity informed the other teen. Luz shifted much closer, leaning awfully close to the green haired teen. Gold eyes widened and her face felt like it was on fire as Luz inspected her so closely.

“They’re so cute, I didn’t know you had them! How could I not have noticed?! Can I see them again?” Luz was speaking very quickly, and Amity still had no idea what they were discussing. When those golden eyes just continued to stare back at Luz she sighed. “I mean, of course you have fangs, I should have realized that. Eda has a fang, Willow and Gus have fangs, even Boscha has fangs, but I’ve never seen your fangs before. Can I see them again? Please?”

“My fangs?” She did not try to keep the confusion out of her voice. “Luz, I mean, they’re teeth. My teeth aren’t special.”

“Everything about you is special, Ami!” The human teen grinned and Amity was at a complete loss for words. Her heart could have stopped beating at that moment, and she did not think Luz would ever understand what that sentence did to her. She only woke from her stupor when she saw Luz move to pick up her history book. Amity did not remember dropping her textbook, but she clearly had and now she watched her friend set it aside.

“Ami?” She asked, her mind catching up to what Luz had just called her.

“It’s cute, like you.” Luz’s response was not helping Amity reset her brain, so she closed her eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. She let her head tilt forward a bit and rolled her shoulders to relax them. This was just Luz, who she had been sharing a room with. Just the cute, funny, slightly insane girl she had a massive crush on. Her thoughts were interrupted by Luz whispering near her ear. “You’re smiling. What ya thinking about?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Amity muttered playfully, and she both heard and felt Luz giggling next to her. Gold eyes opened, and Amity turned her head to watch Luz laugh. She knew her smile widened, partly because the human teen stopped laughing and just watched her. Gold eyes got to take in a very relaxed look wash over Luz’s face, before a shy smile came to the human girl’s lips as well. “What?”

“When you smile that wide, I can just see your fangs.” Luz told her, followed by moving to lean into Amity’s side. Amity bit her lip, screwed up her courage a bit, and shifted until she could slip an arm over Luz’s shoulders. Amity’s breath caught when the other teen rested her head on her shoulder and sort of snuggled there. Gold eyes rolled to look at the ceiling, and in her mind, she recited a list of ingredients for special types of abominations. She did this silently until she felt like she could breathe again. With that accomplished, Amity pulled a deep breath in. It basically flooded her senses with Luz’s scent, and she grinned nervously.

‘Just enjoy the moment.’ Amity thought to herself and leaned her head on top of Luz’s head.

Camila stood halfway up the stairs, leaning on the banister. Neither of the girls noticed her, the couch faced away from the stairs after all. She heard the entire exchange, not missing the word fangs or how excited Luz got over that detail. She smiled contentedly though, because regardless of anything else involved in this entire issue, she couldn’t miss how well these two fit with each other. She was uncertain if either of them could really see how they looked at each other, but to anyone else it was hard to miss. She would give Luz time, let her come clean about what really happened this summer.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

If this were a book, the exchange of contraband goods would take place in a shady alleyway, with fog rolling in, in the middle of the night. This was not a book however, so of course it was midday when they came to the door of the wizard’s isolated shack. Lilith stood just to the left of her sister, as Eda pounded loudly on the door to announce their presence. Behind them Viney carried a covered cage, flanked on either side by the Blight twins. The teens kept their hoods up and wore masks Eda provided them to hide their faces from the wizard. It was hot to be dressed so heavily, but none of the three wanted any of this following them back to Bones Burrow so they did as they were told. When the door finally opened the wizard leaned a bit to the side to eye the three figures behind the two women. Their masks really caught his attention. Edric’s had a painted hand covering its mouth, Emira’s had edge detailing of hands over ears, and Viney’s had a hand painted as if it were covering the eye holes. The three did not react to the Wizard’s weird look.

“Who are they?” He asked suspiciously.

“They’re my coven, and none of your business.” Eda stated as she shot him a smirk.

“You’re a covenless, wild witch.” Philip replied drily, giving Eda a look that showed he didn’t buy her explanation.

“Got lonely, started my own.” She shrugged. “You want the beast or not?”

“Fine, come in.” He opened the door and moved out of the way so they could enter his home. The three teens stayed near the door, and they also stayed very close to each other. “Give me the cage.”

“Not so fast, prove the portal works and we’ll talk.” Eda said as she crossed her arms.

“What proof do I have anything’s in that cage?” He replied. Lilith moved to stand before Viney and pulled the cloth that was covering the cage off. Inside a metal cage a baby slither beast lay, curled in a ball and breathing deeply as it slept.

“It’s under a sleep spell and trust me it gets loud when it’s awake.” Eda snarked back at the man. “Portal?”

“Fine.” Philip moved to a closet and retrieved what appeared to be a suitcase with a large cat eye on it. He set it in the middle of the floor, pulled a key from his pocket, and activated the portal. Viney, Emira, and Edric were very glad for their masks as they watched it transform into a door, before opening. Bright light flooded through the door, before it died down and left them with a view of what appeared to be a clearing in a forest or an overgrown area. Eda exchanged a look with Lilith, before nodding. Philip said nothing as Eda walked through the doorway, into the other world. She strode away, just out of sight, before returning. When Eda was safely back in the room with them, she turned to Philip.

“Alright, the beast is yours.” She held out her hand for the key. Viney moved forward slightly, carefully setting the cage down. Once the portal was closed, and Eda had secured the portal and the key they all walked out. As soon as they were outside, Eda and Viney got on Eda’s staff, the twins and Lilith got on hers, and they practically bolted away. They didn’t return to the inn; they had ensured nothing was left there so they could depart quickly and avoid any possible tricks. Instead they swiftly made for a cave near the shore, and when they landed there Puddles happily bounded out to greet Viney. Eda and Lilith reclaimed their bags as the twins moved to join Viney by Puddles.

“Go home and be sure you aren’t followed.” Eda told them seriously.

“We will make ourselves seen on the other side of town so if anyone attempts to follow, they will be drawn that way.” Lilith told them. “Do not tell anyone where you have been.”

“Yes ma’ams!” Edric said with an exaggerated bow, mask still covering his face. Eda rolled her eyes, then sent her staff back into the skies. Lilith paused and watched them for a moment, looking properly concerned about leaving the three unsupervised.

“Be cautious, these dealings could be dangerous.” She told them, before following her sister into the sky and away from them. They waited, then waited a beat longer to be certain the two were gone. Finally, Viney turned on her heel and bolted into the cave as the twins kept look out. She walked back out of the cave, a sleeping, baby slither beast settled against her chest in a baby carrier.

“How long do you think we have before they notice?” Viney asked, as they all carefully climbed onto Puddles’ back.

“Let’s hope Eda and Lilith never do.” Emira replied.

“We pranked the Owl Lady and we can’t even tell anyone, what a shame.” Edric lamented as Puddles lifted them into the sky.

“We can probably tell Mittens and Luz.” Emira offered as she reached around Viney and gave the sleeping beast a gentle scratch to its furry head. If that so happened to cause her to also hug closer to the other teen, Emira had no complaints.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Sunday morning arrived before Luz was prepared for it. After the annoyance of their Friday run in with Todd, Luz and Amity had stayed in all of Saturday. Amity had insisted they knock out all of their weekend homework on Friday night, which had left Saturday free aside from Luz’s morning paper route. Luz had jumped at the chance to dig out the collection of Anime and Azura movies she had. Introducing Amity to anime had been an adventure and watching those movies with her had been like seeing them for the first time all over again. King had even plopped down in front of the TV and watched until he fell asleep. They had ended their movie marathon by re-watching Azura: Field of Deadly Fates. Luz had only been a little embarrassed when her mother woke them up, apparently, they had fallen asleep leaning against each other at some point in the movie. Camila had only smiled at them and sent them off to bed before she left for her night shift. But Sunday morning Luz felt groggy and not so eager to ride off on her paper route.

“Mami!” Luz spotted her Mother locking her car as she rode up to the house. They shared a smile and a hug before Luz went to put her bike away. Sunday’s were quiet at the Noceda house, calm and relaxing. Camila did not work Sunday night into Monday morning, so she stayed up and made a big breakfast to share with the girls. Sometimes on Sundays they would go to the movies or a park or somewhere.

“¿Cómo estás hoy, cariño? (How are you today, sweetie?)” Camila said when Luz joined her in the kitchen after getting cleaned up.

“Cansado pero bueno, Mami. (Tired but good, Mami.)” The teen started getting King’s dog food for him, he was not awake yet but as soon as he smelled food the little demon would all but fly down the stairs. “Oye, Mami, ¿qué opinas de Amity? (Hey, Mami, what do you think about Amity?)” She fidgeted with her hands a bit as Camila glanced over with an inquiring look. “Uh, quiero decir . . . ¿Qué pensarías si dijera que me gusta Amity? (Uh, I mean . . . What would you think if I said I like Amity?)”

“Luz, puedes gustar a cualquiera que quieras siempre y cuando sean respetuosos contigo. Entre tú y yo, creo que ella también te quiere mucho. (Luz, you can like anyone you please so long as they are respectful to you. Between you and I, I think she might be pretty fond of you too.)” Camila grinned playfully as Luz looked at her shoes to try to hide that she was blushing now. "Confío en que ustedes dos se respeten y se comporten. (I trust you two to respect each other and to behave.)”

“Creo que necesito decirte algo más, Mami. (I think I need to tell you something else, Mami.)” Luz was not blushing anymore, and her shoulders had sagged as if the weight of the world were upon them. “¿Podemos sentarnos y hablar? (Can we sit and talk?)”

King trotted on all fours into the kitchen about halfway through Luz’s long, detailed, tale of her summer. Camila sipped her coffee as they sat at the table and listened to everything Luz wanted to say, only asking for clarification of a few things. When Luz finished speaking, feeling as if she’d run out of words, she stared at her hands resting on the table. She was afraid to look up, she was ashamed of having kept so much from her mother for so long, and she was also terrified that her mother would never want her to return to the Isles. Luz held back tears from thinking about never seeing Willow, Gus, or Eda again. She heard her mother’s chair move across the floor, and Camila walking around the table to her side. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, not sure what to expect with how different this was from anything she’d ever had to tell her before.

“¿Por qué tienes miedo, cariño? (Why are you scared, sweetie?)” Camila whispered, as she hugged Luz about the shoulders.

“¿No estás enfadada? (Aren’t you mad?)” Luz asked as she cracked one eye open, angling her head to catch a glimpse of her mother’s expression.

“Luz, sabía que algo estaba pasando. Sólo quería darte la oportunidad de decirme cuándo estabas listo. (Luz, I knew something was off. I just wanted to give you the chance to tell me when you were ready.)” Camila’s tone was filled with understanding and concern and Luz slowly relaxed. “¿Por eso Amity tiene colmillos? (So, is that why Amity has fangs?)” Camila whispered this to her daughter playfully.

“¿Cómo sabes que tiene? (How did you know she has. . ?)” Luz stopped and straightened in her chair. “¡Nos oíste la otra noche! (You heard us the other night!)”

“Los vi la otra noche, cuando están concentrados el uno en el otro ustedes dos son ajenos cariño. (I watched you the other night, when you are focused on each other you two are oblivious sweetie.)” Camila laughed before moving away to start making breakfast. Luz groaned and dropped her head to the table, covering it with her arms. King took this as his chance to crawl into her lap and take a quick nap.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

It was dark when they reached the Knee and Puddles brought them down near where they’d camped before. In the distance they heard a chilling sound, and all three teens winced as it raised the hairs on the back of their necks. Viney slipped off of Puddles, shaking her head when Emira moved to follow. The green haired witch looked conflicted, and her worried gold eyes turned to sweep the trees instead.

“I think mama is looking for her baby.” Edric commented, from where he sat behind his sister. 

“That might make this faster.” Viney said, unstrapping the baby slither beast from the carrier quickly. It was beginning to make a sound similar to the one they were hearing in the distance. She set it down gently, handing it a last treat and then swiftly running back to climb on Puddles’ back again. Emira’s arms quickly wrapped around Viney, and Viney urged Puddles to take flight as they began hearing a loud crashing nearby. The sounds of the adult slither beast grew louder by the moment as Puddles gained height. They circled, high above for safety, and watched the little one as it cried out to its parent. “Come on.” Viney muttered.

“It must be close.” Emira murmured as they waited. She was not wrong, a few minutes later the large, adult, slither beast burst over the dark tundra and to the baby. Edric awed as the adult picked up and cradled the baby. For a time, the two sat there, before the adult turned in the direction of the den and began to amble off while carrying the baby.

“Next stop, Blight Manor.” Viney said, as she patted Puddles and encouraged him to turn toward their new destination. Thankfully the final leg of their weekend adventure was much shorter, and they were soon setting down in front of the Blight home. The door opened and Mittens 2.0 leaned on the door as she watched them touch down.

“Parents?” Edric asked and Mittens 2.0 shook her head.

“I haven’t seen anyone all weekend.” She told him as the three walked to the door.

“So, this isn’t Amity?” Viney asked, tilting her head to observe the illusion clone who just eyed her in return.

“No, this is our latest masterpiece!” Edric proudly proclaimed before holding a hand up. “High five Mittens!” She slapped his hand as Emira laughed.

“Mittens 2.0 is how we already knew how to make a tangible illusion clone.” Emira told Viney, as she indicated the illusion clone. Edric excused himself, entering the house and tugging the clone along with him.

“So, I should probably go before Puddles falls asleep on your lawn.” Viney said as she and Emira turned to face each other. Emira pulled her into a hug and spoke near her ear.

“Or you could stay, let Puddles rest, and just sleep here.”

“Em. . .” Viney sounded a little conflicted, and she was turning a few thoughts over in her mind.

“I promise to behave, I just want to know you and Puddles are safe. Mostly Puddles, since we’ve been flying for so many hours.” Emira moved so she could look into Viney’s green eyes and gave her a hopeful smile. “We can find something for Puddles to eat, I think, and we have guest rooms if you want. My parents aren’t here, so no one is going to notice an extra witch and a griffin.”

“You promise this isn’t you putting some sort of patented Blight kid move on me?” Viney asked, but it was clear she was joking.

“Oh, lovely, have you not seen Amity and Edric?” Emira joked. “There are no patented Blight romantic moves, Titan help us but we all just bumble along.”

“You do pretty well, I’d say.” Viney whispered and slipped her arms up to Emira’s shoulders. Emira grinned and leaned closer, almost kissing her but stopping just short.

“I wanted to ask you out a year ago.” She whispered.

“What about your Grom date, the idiot that stood you up?” Viney asked and Emira sighed.

“That was arranged by her parents and mine.” Emira informed her and was rewarded with a quiet laugh. Their eyes watched each other and Emira bit her own lip for a moment. “Please stay, I don’t want to worry that you might crash on the way home.”

“Okay, for Puddles’ sake of course.” Viney agreed softly.

“Of course.” Emira smirked and leaned in to softly kiss Viney. When they parted and looked over at the yard, the griffin had already curled up and gone to sleep. Viney giggled at the sight.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

“So, uh, I need to tell you something.” Luz would have laughed at how close that was to what she’d said to her mother a few hours ago if she weren’t reeling a bit from the morning she’d already had. Beside her, holding King’s pointless leash, Amity glanced her way. When Luz didn’t start talking the green haired girl bumped their shoulders together and Luz smiled. “So, I kind of told my Mom everything this morning.”

“What is everything?” Amity asked, reaching over and taking Luz’s hand in her free hand.

“All about the Isles, everything that happened over the summer.” Luz responded as she kicked a pebble on the sidewalk. She silently added ‘That I like you as more than a friend.’

“How did she take it?” Those gold eyes glanced about, as if making sure no one else was paying attention to them.

“Well I guess.” Luz shrugged scratched her head as she really thought about it. “She didn’t really say much about it, she’s not mad and apparently she already knew something was going on.” She paused to chew on her lip before adding. “And, uh, she apparently saw us discussing your teeth the other night.”

“My teeth?” Amity’s confusion only lasted a few moments before those gold eyes snapped toward Luz again. “Oh!” Her reaction was so comical that Luz stopped and lost it. She laughed so hard, possibly from the broken tension of not having to hide so many things anymore. She doubled over as Amity and King watched her, sharing a concerned look. After long moments she began to calm down, wiping happy tears from her eye as she held her stomach.

“I needed to laugh so badly.” Luz managed with a bright smile directed at Amity, who slowly returned that smile.

“Are you okay?” She finally asked and the Latina grinned in a new manner at her as she moved closer and pulled the other girl into a hug. Amity had forgotten to hold King’s leash; it was on the ground but neither girl noticed.

“I don’t fit in.” Luz muttered from seemingly nowhere. “I’m just a weirdo.”

“Luz, you aren’t a weirdo.” Amity told her, wrapping her own arms around Luz and squeezing her tightly for a moment. “You fit with me.” Amity continued quietly. The teen witch was blushing hard again, averting her eyes toward the sky as she reminded herself to breathe. “I mean you fit in at Hexside, in the Isles, with Willow, Gus, King, Eda. . .” She winced and shut her eyes tightly. “Oh Titan, I’m making this weird. I just wanted to let you know I . . . I mean we all care about you.”

“Amity.” Luz’s voice was soft, it almost sounded like she was about to cry. Amity closed her eyes; she did not think she could take it if she saw Luz crying. She felt Luz’s hand move until it came to rest on the side of her neck. Amity did not have long to be confused, because Luz used her hand to tug them suddenly closer, causing their noses to painfully bump together. They both yelped and jumped back from each other rubbing their noses.

“Ouch, that wasn’t what I was trying to do.” Luz said, shooting a smile at Amity who’d finally opened her gold eyes. The green-haired teen looked ready to pass out, and her words came out in a stutter.

“Wha. . . What were you . . . what was that?” Amity asked and watched Luz shift from foot to foot. The Latina offered her a shy look, waving her hands a bit as she spoke.

“I was trying to. . .” She stopped, scuffed the toe of her shoe against the sidewalk, and then sort of took a steadying breath. “I was, uh, trying to kiss you.” She finally admitted.

“Kiss me?” Amity was so red that Luz was really worried the other girl would faint from all the blood that had rushed to her head. The witch gestured vaguely between them and spoke quickly. “You want to kiss me? A real kiss? I mean, of course a real kiss, but like a kiss kiss not a . . ?”

“Amity.” Luz was giggling at the stream of words the other girl just kept speaking.

“Like a kiss? Not on my cheek, or my forehead, or hand or I don’t know where else?” Those gold eyes were blown wide, and Luz reached out and grabbed the witch’s hands that were trembling slightly. “Like a . . ?”

“A real kiss, yeah.” Luz ducked her head as they moved to stand just in front of each other. “If that’s okay, I mean?”

“If it’s. . .” Amity seemed to be slowing down a bit, and a small nervous smile came to her lips. “Yes?” It came out like a question, and she could have kicked herself. “Yup, it is very okay.”

“Oh yeah?” Luz’s brown eyes met Amity’s gold eyes again and Amity felt like she forgot to breathe.

“Yeah. Hey, close your eyes.” Amity said this, and Luz smiled playfully before letting her brown eyes slip shut. Amity took a steadying breath, then very slowly tilted her head and leaned in. She was careful not to repeat the painful nose bump. She softly pressed her lips to Luz’s, uncertain what to do from there. Her own eyes slipped shut as Luz pushed herself a little closer. It was not some dramatic movie kiss, closer to just a press of lips, but when they separated and looked at each other they were both grinning fools.

“I like you a lot.” Luz admitted softly as they watched each other’s faces carefully.

“I like you more.” Amity replied without thinking and Luz basically collapsed into Amity’s shoulder laughing.

“Amity, that was so cheesy.” She told her, even as Amity hugged her. “Please say it again.” Luz whispered and felt Amity chuckle this time.

“I like you more.” Amity told her, whispering near her ear. They stood like that for a while, a few random people walked past them but neither girl cared at the moment. After a while the green-haired witch whispered again. “Hey Luz?” There was an unintelligible mumble in answer. “I think we lost King.”


	10. Impact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Toothy_breeze: Thank you for mentioning the mask joke, you were the only one to comment on that little easter egg.
> 
> Vicente: Thank you so much for letting me know. I am using translation programs for the Spanish moments so I am very grateful to get a heads up when something isn’t right. I am off to correct that error after I post this chapter.
> 
> This is not the final chapter, just want to make sure that is clear. There are still a few obvious things to be cleared up. That said, after this is complete, I am considering writing a Viney and Emira centric fic. Please drop a comment if you would be interested in reading a Viney and Emira fic.

In the Human World:  
Impact

Luz started laughing so hard she doubled over, and King found himself sharing a concerned look with Amity. He was, of course, fine with his human friend being happy, but this seemed more unstable. It was laughter, just not in Luz’s normal happy manner. He could not properly explain the difference, but he could feel a difference. When Amity dropped his leash and Luz hugged her King began to debate just leaving the teens to themselves. He waited to the side, listening but clearly forgotten in their conversation. When Luz suddenly tried, and might he add failed in a very awkward way, at a first kiss the little demon was done. He neatly folded his leash, stuck it in his mouth, and began to trot away on all fours. If these two were finally going to sort out their feelings for each other, he saw no reason he need be involved.

It did not take long for King to reach the Noceda home, though carrying his leash folded in his mouth was an indignity in his opinion. He trotted to the door, slowly moved to stand when he was sure no one was nearby and knocked in three quick raps on the wooden door. He never thought he would miss Hooty, but right now he missed the crazy bird tube. There was a pause, then he heard someone coming closer to the door. The steps stopped just before the door opened, revealing a curious Camila Noceda who frowned as she glanced around. She noticed King alone and sighed.

“Did the girls lose you, little one?” Camila asked as King moved inside and began fiddling with his collar, attempting to find the thing holding the leash to it.

“They’re too busy finally sorting themselves out, I just decided not to wait.” King informed her and heard a cup Camila was holding fall from her grasp. The ceramic lost its handle in the impact and King jumped away, startled as the handle slid across the hardwood floor. He looked over at Camila who was staring at him, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide. “Are you okay, Camila?” King asked as kindly as he could manage. “You, uh, lost your cup.”

“You can talk!?” She yelled at him, thankfully she already closed the door. “How long have you been able to talk?!”

“Wait, you didn’t know I could talk?” King chuckled nervously, tugging at the leash he still had not managed to detach. “I kind of thought you knew that a while ago. . . And Luz said she told you everything this morning.”

“She didn’t mention that the dog spoke English.” She told him this with a surprisingly dry tone. “¿Qué voy a hacer con esa chica? (What am I going to do with that girl?)”

“I’m not actually a dog.” King would normally be much more vehement stating this, but he was a bit worried that would be too much for the elder Noceda right now. “I’m the King of Demons.”

“Of course you are.” Camila sighed heavily and shook her head. She knelt, crooking a finger to beckon him toward her. “Come here, King of Demons.”

“So, are you okay?” He asked, stepping closer and flinching slightly when she reached for his neck. He was pleasantly surprised though when Camila simply unlatched the leash for him and offered him a tired smile.

“It is a lot to take in, even with the things I already knew.” She tossed the leash aside, apparently done worrying about the object, and gathered the broken cup with careful hands. She stood up, tilting her head and regarding King where he stood by her feet. “Would you like some coffee? Can you drink coffee?”

“Oh, yeah, I’d love some coffee.” So, he followed Camila back to the kitchen. By the time Amity and Luz rushed into the house, concerned after looking for and failing to find King, the two were laughing as they exchanged stories about Luz. The teens eyed them with relief, and Camila laughed.

“I think you can stop taking King for walks.” She informed the two who both seemed equally embarrassed.

“I got bored of your sap and walked back.” King told them which turned Amity into a blushing mess and started Luz mumbling incoherently. 

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

Luz Noceda had started her Sunday feeling overwhelmed, but by the evening she was full of crazy energy. Camila had gone to bed, and King had gone to take a nap at her feet. Amity and Luz chose not to question that, Camila was taking the fact that the “dog” was a small demon shockingly well. Instead the girls went up to their shared room, and Amity sat against the headboard of one of the beds with Azura book five open as they took turns narrating and voicing the characters. The green haired witch grinned as Luz, voicing Azura tonight, basically bounced about the room pantomiming actions here and there. The teen human was clearly on an energy high, and the young witch could not help enjoying the joyous energy practically radiating from her.

“You shant succeed, nar do well!” Luz declared for Azura as she struck a defiant pose, causing Amity to giggle.

“The ground shook violently with another large quake, causing Hecate to stumble and Azura to lose her feet.” Amity read the narrative, though it was hard, she was trying not to laugh as Luz faked stumbling about the room. The human teen managed to stumble over to the bed Amity sat on, draping herself in a very unconvincing fall across the other girl’s lap. Amity set the book aside, holding her sides as she laughed at Luz’s antics.

“Hecate, help me my dearest!” Luz said, flinging one arm up as if reaching out for assistance.

“Luz, Azura doesn’t say that.” Amity informed her between giggles, and the other girl offered her a bright smile as she broke character.

“Well she should have.” Luz informed her, brown eyes meeting gold. “And my Hecate would help me up.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Amity joked and smirked at the girl draped across her lap. “I think Hecate is going to leave Azura where she has fallen.”

“Oh?” Luz wiggled her eyebrows at the green haired teen, and Amity leaned down to place a slightly nervous but sweet kiss against her brow. The human teen shifted, sitting up and sort of crawling about so that she could lay down on the bed and comfortably use Amity as a pillow.

“Where did you get all this energy?” She asked softly, reaching out to comb a hand through Luz’s brown hair. The human teen shifted a bit, causing her to sort of nuzzle Amity’s shirt at stomach level. Amity knew she was blushing again, but Luz looked so happy, a big smile lighting her features as she turned those brown eyes to Amity’s again.

“You.” Luz said simply, causing Amity to make a questioning sound. The human teen caught the hand not playing with her hair and tangled their fingers together. “You make me feel really light and happy. I feel all bubbly now, like when you shake a soda really hard. I guess, knowing you like me too, just kind of makes everything a little better.”

“I really thought you would figure that out after Grom.” Amity focused on the feeling of Luz’s hair, which was softer than she would have expected. “It seemed like I couldn’t even say hello without spewing a stream of words.”

“Wait, Grom?” Those brown eyes widened, and Luz stared up at her in clear wonder. “Wait, was that note for me?”

“Oh Titan, how did you not realize that earlier today?” Amity tapped Luz’s nose with one finger, watching her face scrunch cutely and her eyes briefly cross to look at that finger. “Who did you think it was for?”

“Someone cool.” Luz said without missing a beat, and her voice shifted to a sort of scared tone. “Maybe another Abomination track student, or some upper classmen. I even considered that maybe you wanted to ask Boscha.”

“Boscha?” Amity gave Luz a doubtful look, which just drew a shrug from the girl in her lap.

“I kind of eliminated Boscha after that Grudgby game.” Luz decided not to inform Amity that before the incident at the Emperor’s Castle, well the first incident, she had been working her way down a list of suspects. “Had to be someone cool, someone smart, and probably someone stand-offish to be willing to turn you down as a Grom date.”

“Plenty of our classmates would try to avoid going to Grom with a Blight.” Amity told her.

“No way, I refuse to believe that. Have you seen yourself and your siblings, Ami?” Luz scratched the side of her neck when Amity raised an eyebrow. “Not that I look at Ed or Em that way, but you’re all just too much sometimes.”

“Too much?”

“Too cool.” Luz amended.

“Well my too cool siblings got stood up at Grom, don’t tell them I told you that.” Amity watched those eyes go wide again; it was such a cute expression it pulled another giggle from her. She returned to carding her fingers through Luz’s hair. On a whim she leaned down and carefully rubbed their noses together. Luz made a happy little sound, and they grinned at each other.

“Ami?” Luz waited for another inquisitive sound and played with the hand she had captured. “We should go on a date tomorrow, after school. Just us.”

“What do you have in mind?”

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Edric had never hated morning so much in his young life. Mittens 2.0, in yet another display of her hyper realism, had banged on his door to wake him when his alarm went unheard. The male Blight sibling had opened his door, locking gold eyes on gold eyes with the clone of his little sister and been given a very haughty look in return. She wrinkled her nose, with her arms crossed, and drily informed him he needed a shower. For a long, very sleep deprived, moment the Illusionist could not fathom what about that statement tickled his mind. Mittens 2.0 was halfway down the hall when it finally processed, and he yelled after her.

“You don’t have a sense of smell!” His voice was indignant as it carried down the hall.

“I don’t need one, I can easily tell you must smell terrible.” She replied, and shortly after she basically vanished down the stairs.

“So rude.” Edric muttered, but he still gathered what he needed and slipped off to take a shower. Given a choice he would just not go to school today, but with their absence Friday missing Monday would draw unwanted attention. So Edric showered, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and put on his uniform. Even with the shower he was feeling very blurry when he dragged into the kitchen. Mittens 2.0 pushed a plate of breakfast toward him, and he offered her a grateful smile. She may have given him a very bratty wake up call, but it was sweet that she got his breakfast ready.

Emira woke to shouting in the hallway, her mind pretty blurry as to what had her brother yelling. The return snipe from Mittens 2.0’s voice was fairly clear, and close to her door, so that brought a smirk to her lips. She moved to stretch and found she was partially pinned down on her bed. Her golden eyes landed on Viney, who appeared to still be peacefully sleeping. The Duel Track student’s hair was down for once, her head resting on Emira’s chest and one arm slung across Emira’s waist. They had both been so tired when they came upstairs, they’d really just removed their shoes, let their hair down, and collapsed onto the bed to fall asleep.

‘Mother would be aghast if she could see my rumpled clothes right now.’ Emira thought with a quiet laugh. She bit her lip as her companion stirred, and slowly those deep green eyes blinked open and met her gold eyes.

“Is it mornin’ already?” Viney mumbled in a husky voice, one that Emira basically felt as they were cuddled together.

“I’m afraid so, cutie.” She told her softly, using her hand to brush some brown hair from Viney’s eyes. The shorter witch offered a tired smile, and they sort of just watched each other for a few moments.

“We should get ready for school.” Viney finally mumbled as she shifted and moved to sit up. Emira made a sound of agreement but found she lacked the will to actually leave her bed. Honestly, she wanted to cuddle Viney and ignore the world. They could not have slept more than five hours. Viney poked Emira in the ribs, causing the Illusionist to jerk in surprise as Viney giggled. “Come on, sweetheart, I know we need some time to tame that lovely hair of yours.”

“So, you admit you think I’m lovely?” Emira spoke in a flirty tone, sitting up and smirking again.

“Fishing for complements?” Viney’s voice was playful, before she stood and moved to where she had dropped her travel bag. “I am so glad I packed a uniform.”

“So responsible.” Emira commented, finally standing, and indulging in a long stretch to loosen her tired muscles.

By the time they made it downstairs Edric was helping Mittens 2.0 pack them all lunches, and two plates of food were waiting for them. Emira swiftly realized she was more awake than her brother, when he plopped back down in the chair to her left. With a wicked grin she leaned toward him slightly, taking a very obvious sniff, and shaking her head at him. Edric frowned at her in confusion.

“Well, I suppose you smell passable.” Emira said, her tone filled with false lament. Edric gave her a completely betrayed look.

“Excuse you! I smell wonderful, I even put on cologne today!”

“Could be the problem.” Viney joked and Edric made a choked sound as Emira laughed.

“All of you are so rude this morning.” Edric informed them, but Emira knew inside he was laughing.

“Puddles can take us to school.” Viney informed them with a yawn, pushing some of her food with her fork. “We can land at the stables so Puddles can get all the food and water she wants.”

“Actually, I think Mittens and I will walk.” Edric told them, drawing curious looks from the two teen girls. “I want to grab something at the market on the way to school.”

“What could you possibly want this early?” Emira asked with a disbelieving look.

“I was thinking, it’s a shame Luz’s phone doesn’t communicate with our scrolls.” He shrugged. “So why don’t we just get her a scroll? That way even if our parents have forbidden Amity from seeing her, they can at least communicate.”

“Wait, your parents did what?” Viney eyed them both in surprise. “Have they met Luz?”

“No.” Edric tugged at one of his sleeves. “I doubt it would change anything if they did though.”

“Actually, it might make things worse if they did.” Emira shook her head. “The scroll is a good idea. Are the right shops open this early?”

“I already looked it up, I know exactly which one I’m going to.” He let his head come down to rest on the table, his voice becoming muffled. “I put in an order so I can just pick it up, that way I don’t make Mittens 2.0 yell at me.”

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MESSAGES IN THE ROOKIES OF THE B.G.C. GROUP CHAT:

{Coven meeting after school.} From the Original.

{We have meetings?} From Gus.

{We do now, everyone come to the house after school.} From the Original

{You’re back! What happened?} From Willow

{We have what we need to get them back.} From the Original

{Yes!} From Gus

{Don’t do anything without us.} From Emira

{No worries, Girl Twin, that’s why I want you all to come to the house.} From the Original

{Including me?} From Viney

{If you got this message, come.} From the Original

{Ed, Em, Viney, are you three okay?} From Willow

{We’re good Whomping Willow!} From Edric

{What did you just call Willow?} From Gus

{Ignore that, Ed’s tired. We’re fine Willow.} From Emira.

{Want to meet at lunch?} From Gus

{We’ll come to your table.} From Emira.

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“Is everyone finally here?” Eda asked, watching as Mittens 2.0 appeared to actually start counting the witches present in the room. Gus, Willow and Edric were seated on the couch. Viney was sitting in an armchair, with Emira sitting on the arm of the same chair. Mittens 2.0 finished her head count, nodded, and settled into a wooden chair placed near the couch. Eda and Lilith stood before the gathered teens, and the illusion clone. “Alright, by a show of hands, who wants to go into the Human World to help retrieve them?”

“Me! Me! Me!” Everyone’s hands went up, but Gus was chanting and bouncing in his seat. Willow and Edric each used their free hand to grip a shoulder and still the witchling.

“Sorry, Dingus, but I don’t think you can focus around that much human stuff.” Eda looked directly at Gus and he deflated but muttered an agreement to that statement. Mismatched gold and gray eyes drifted over the teens, this time landing on Viney. “Would Puddles try to follow you?”

“Probably.” Viney admitted with a sigh. “I’ll wait here.”

“I believe the Blight Twins have the right to retrieve their sister.” Lilith put in, her green and gray eyes glancing between the two. “Are you rested enough to do so?”

“Oh, we both caught naps in the nurse’s office earlier.” Edric said brightly.

“Alright then.” Eda considered Willow for a moment, before shaking her head. “We should keep this small, the twins and myself.”

“Perhaps. . .” Lilith started but Eda shout her a challenging look.

“You don’t know how to talk to humans.” She reminded and Lilith raised a dark eyebrow.

“Edalyn, you have one human.”

“And I get along with her very well, which is more than I can say for you. No, you stay here and make sure Hooty and the kids don’t destroy the house.” Eda sighed. “There really isn’t any way to know how long this will take, so no one feel like you have to wait.”

“How are we going to find them?” Emira asked and watched Eda cross her arms.

“Well we know they are staying with Luz’s mother, so I suppose we start asking around for Nocedas.” She looked each twin over with a measuring eye and gave a smirk. “But before that, we’d best change into some Human World clothes.”

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The afternoon light was turning the light from the windows an orangish-red, and the daytime heat was starting to drop. Camila sipped her coffee as she walked toward the door, hearing whoever was there knock again. She opened the door, aiming a smile at whoever was waiting, only to find that smile falling off her face as confusion washed through her. Three people stood on the step, two older teens with forest green hair and a gray-haired woman. All three in terribly mismatched clothing, and all three also wore bandanas of various colors which pinned their ears to the sides of their heads. After spending so much time around Amity, Camila was certain they were hiding the points on their ears.

“Is Luz home?” The male twin spoke, as he and his sister struck a pose that seemed to scream of innocence and charm. Camila gave them a doubtful look and the two slowly deflated. She turned her brown eyes instead to the mismatched eyes of the gray-haired woman behind the two.

“You’re Eda?” Camila asked slowly and saw surprise alight on the other woman’s face.

“Yes, Eda Clawthorne.” She agreed and saw Camila nod slowly, looking tired. “You just woke up, didn’t ya?”

“Yes, come in you three.” Camila waved them in, and the twins happily slipped by into the air-conditioned home. Eda gave an awkward smile and followed them inside. The twins were looking around the living room as if they thought Amity would be hiding behind the couch. “The girls aren’t here; they went on a date.”

“Date?” The female twin perked up as her brother sagged.

“Not the time, kiddos.” Eda cut in, and then gestured to the siblings. “These two are Edric and Emira Blight, Amity’s siblings.”

“Oh, she does remember our names.” Edric said with a laugh. The conversation was interrupted by an excited squeal, followed by a furry body charging over to jump at Eda. She knelt to catch King and allowed the little demon to excitedly hug her, before burrowing into her hair. His actions dislodged her bandana so that her pointy ears were in full view.

“EDA! You came!” He stuck his head out of her hair to watch what everyone else was doing.

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Amity and Luz were laughing as Luz unlocked the door of the Noceda home. She held it open for Amity, who slipped inside and then suddenly went silent. The human teen followed her and peaked over Amity’s shoulder. What she saw made her feel like she’d been hit with a blast of cold water.

“Mittens!” The twins yelled in unison, rushing over to their sister and quickly wrapping her in a tight group hug.

“Ed, Em.” Amity quietly spoke their names, slowly sinking into her siblings’ embrace. Luz quietly shut the door behind them and weakly smiled at seeing the three Blights reunited. She noticed a few happy tears, but she would not dare call any of them out about that.

“Not even gonna say hello, kid?” Eda’s voice came from the kitchen doorway, and Luz spun on her heel before running at her mentor. Eda stumbled as Luz practically tackled her while yelling her name, returning the teenager’s hug. She shook her head with a smile, she knew that was going to be her reaction. “Good to see you too, Luz.”

“When did you get here? How did you get here?” Amity asked as she finally pulled free of the twins’ hug. Edric and Emira each kept an arm about their sister, but they let her breathe a bit.

“Oh, do we ever have a story to tell you!” Edric exclaimed. “It’s full of adventure, danger, romance for Emira.”

“You’re just jealous, Ed.” Emira told him, before leaning close to her sister’s ear to speak quietly. “I hear someone else got a little romance too.”

“Oh, well.” Amity blushed and her gold eyes moved to Luz who was excitedly talking to Eda. The youngest Blight bit her lip as she watched the other teen.

“Don’t worry, we’re working on it.” Edric told her, causing his sister to look back toward him again. He shrugged and offered a smile. “She can’t come back with us right now, but Camila seemed like she’d let her visit. Eda’s staying here tonight to talk to her more about that when she gets back.”

“Hey, what are you three whispering about?” Luz asked as she walked back over. Amity looked lost, still processing what her siblings said. The Twins, ever the experts at diversion pounced on Luz with another group hug, causing a surprised but happy sound to burst from the human teen. Amity felt her mood lighten slightly as Edric and Emira resorted to tickling Luz, who could not bat four hands away at once. “Ami! Help!” She yelped between laughs.

“Alright, stop it you two.” Amity said, as she reached in and extracted Luz from between her siblings. Edric and Emira folded into each other’s sides, with happy smiles.

“But Mittens!” Edric said in a falsely affronted voice. “Surely we should treat Luz like one of us!”

“I mean, she is our dear baby sister’s girlfriend after all.” Emira added with a playful smirk.

“I did not miss you two at all.” Amity told them with a glare, even as Luz hugged her and hid her face in Amity’s shoulder. She felt the other girl laughing, though she managed to muffle most of the sound against Amity.

“We love you too Mittens!” Edric told her and Amity favored him with a smile. She couldn’t help it; of course she had missed her two foolish older siblings.

“You three should head back.” Eda broke the happy moment and Luz’s head shot up as she turned to stare at her mentor. Eda gave an attempt at a reassuring smile toward Luz. “The Blight Trio is heading back tonight, and you and I will be waiting for your Mom to get back from work. She still wants to talk about some things.”

“I don’t get to go back?” Luz asked and visibly deflated as she shifted her eyes toward Amity again.

“Can’t we wait with you?” Amity asked and saw the twins shake their heads.

“Mittens 2.0 is good, but one illusion clone can’t cover for all 3 of us.” Emira informed her.

“But hey, we brought Luz something!” Edric perked up, pulling a little box from his pocket and offering it to the human teen. She took it slowly, opened it with Amity also looking at it’s contents.

“A scroll?” Luz smiled very slightly and looked at the twins. “So I can stay in contact?”

“We also made sure to add Amity, Willow, Gus, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, and our contact info in there.” Emira told her kindly. “It isn’t a perfect solution, but for now even with the delay at least you can still contact all of us.”

“Aw, thanks that’s really thoughtful.” Luz said, trying not to sound sad that she couldn’t go back with them tonight. She felt Amity’s hand slip into her free hand, and she squeezed it.

“Give us a minute, we’ll be right back.” Amity told them, as she started to tug Luz out of the living room. She did not say anything until they were in Luz’s bedroom, the door shut behind them. She gave Luz a pained look as she spoke. “I knew this was what would eventually happen, but I really don’t want to leave you behind.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Luz forced a smile and pulled Amity back into a hug. “I mean I don’t want to watch you go through that portal without me either, but I guess the twins are right.”

“I miss home, but what if you don’t get to visit or . . .”

“Eda’s a great salesman, if anyone can convince my Mami it’s Eda.” Luz did not feel, or sound convinced either, but she pushed that aside for the moment. “Besides, I’m your fearless champion so I’ll find a way.”

“You have a scroll now.” Amity said, straightening up and seeming to kind of will herself to be okay with this sudden turn of events. “We can message each other.”

“We will message each other.” Luz said and tilted her head, so their foreheads touched. “And if I have to beg Mami I will come visit. I don’t know when, but I’ll make that happen. Eda said she has a new portal, so that’s a stable way back and forth.”

“Right.” Amity agreed, keeping those gold eyes locked on Luz’s brown eyes. “And if you don’t, then I’ll make Eda let me come here.”

“That’s my girl.” Luz said proudly at the determined tone the teen witch was using.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

When they returned to the living room Eda set up the portal, which Luz was surprised to see was on her side of the dimensional divide for the moment. Amity, carrying a small bag at her side, eyed the portal looking like she’d rather do anything other than walk through it. Emira gave Luz a brief hug, Edric clapped her on the shoulder, than they nodded to Amity and stepped into the portal. Amity ignored Eda’s presence, stepped up to Luz and pulled her into a last tight hug. Luz’s arms squeezed her as tightly as they could in return, just standing that way for long moments.

“I’m going to miss you.” Luz whispered and felt a tear silently slip from Amity’s eyes.

“Not as much as I’ll miss you.” She replied and Luz huffed a half a laugh.

“You’re so competitive.” She took a deep breath, and they finally stepped away from each other. Amity backed toward the portal, gave a sad little wave, and finally turned to walk through it. Once she passed through Eda closed the portal down, and it folded back into its suitcase form.

“You’ll see her again, kiddo.” Eda told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Promise?” Luz asked and her mentor nodded. 

“Of course, I promise.” Eda gave an ironic smile. “I do not want all three Blight children ganging up on me to get to you.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

In the Owl House several witches jumped as the portal door basically appeared and opened. The twins emerged from the glowing portal first, and the sedate look of them was enough to make the room at large go quiet. A few long moments later Amity emerged, dressed like a human and carrying a small bag at her side. She wasn’t looking up, and the portal soon closed down and vanished behind her. Willow Park didn’t need to ask, she could get details later. She pulled her childhood best friend aside and wrapped her in a comforting hug.

“I’m sorry, Amity.” Willow whispered as Amity returned the hug. The youngest Blight hid her face in her friend’s shoulder, biting back any sounds as quiet tears slipped from her eyes. Willow just kept her close as the twins filled everyone in.

“What happened? Where are the others?” Gus asked.

“Eda, King, and Luz are still at Luz’s house.” Emira told them, glancing toward her sister as she spoke. “Camila, Luz’s mother, said she wanted to discuss some things in detail. Eda’s confident she can get permission for Luz to come visit regularly.”

“Oh no, is her mom not going to let her come back to Hexside?” Viney asked.

“She didn’t exactly say that.” Edric told them in a cautious tone. “Actually, after agreeing to let us take Amity home she mainly asked questions.”

“Agreeing to let Amity come home?” Lilith gave them a look and they shifted. “You mean she considered trying to prevent you from bringing your sister home?”

“She just wanted to know Amity was safe, that’s all.” Emira gave a drawn-out sigh. “The cover story Amity and Luz started with left her a bit concerned for Amity’s safety.”

“So when will we hear about Luz?” Gus redirected the conversation.

“Not any time soon, her mother is at work until morning.”

“Well, it sounds as if everyone should head home and get a good night’s sleep.” Lilith told them, receiving a chorus of sounds and half-hearted disagreements from the group of teens. She gestured for them to quiet down, and they all obeyed the former Coven Leader. “All of you have school in the morning, and I doubt we’ll receive any word before that. Should anything change here I will ensure word is sent to you.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH


	11. Jaded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter finally addresses what happened before Luz, Amity, and King were launched through the portal. I appreciate the questions about Mittens 2.0, you probably wouldn’t imagine how seriously I considered those. I will get more into that next chapter. Thank you again for the reviews, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think.

In the Human World:  
Jaded

{I made it to Willow’s.} Amity to Emira and Edric.

{Okay. If you need anything just let us know.} From Emira.

{Anything, Mittens? You two want snacks? We can bring snacks?} From Edric.

{We’re fine, I’ll see you tomorrow.} From Amity.

{We made it back safely. Sweet dreams, Luz. Good luck talking to your Mom and Eda.} To Luz from Amity.

TOHtohTOHtohtohtohTOHtOhToHTOH

The Park fathers had welcomed Amity’s sudden appearance with the same warm and friendly nature she remembered from the years before. Willow, it turned out, had already explained that the two were mending their former friendship. Amity thought she had managed to avoid tear stains from earlier, but the reaction of her friend’s parents proved otherwise. Amity was internally split between wanting to escape the comforting group hug she was pulled into and wanting to sink into the warmth being offered. When the adults released her from the hug, she found Willow standing by with a very amused smile, and a quick excuse to pull them away to her room.

“Did you two eat yet?” One of Willow’s parents called after them.

“Uh, not yet.” Willow admitted, exchanging a look with Amity.

“I’ll make you some sandwiches, you girls go talk.” He replied and both girls let out a relieved sigh.

“They haven’t changed, I almost forgot how much I liked visiting your house.” Amity told her friend, finally pulling the beanie from her head and worrying it between her hands. “Thank you for letting me come over tonight. I just, I don’t feel ready to even look at home yet.”

“It isn’t a problem.” Willow said kindly, taking a seat at the end of her bed and watching the other girl pace a bit. “If you feel up to it, I have been wondering what happened. Ed and Em told us you got thrown through a portal by Lilith? They were less detailed about what led to that.”

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The following events take place during and shortly after the events of “Young Blood, Old Souls”:

To say that Amity Blight disliked being confined to Blight Manor would be an understatement. Her parents had been less than pleased with her injury, and with her vague explanation for why she had been involved in a Grudgby scrimmage game when she was no longer a member of the team. They seemed to believe her when she claimed she was merely assisting her former teammates in some after school training, but that did not stop them from expressing their displeasure with her all the same. The private healer which had come to check her fracture had applied additional healing glyphs, insisting that with bedrest the new glyphs would heal the injury in a much shorter time. Bedrest, however, was not something the teen witch took to easily. She was used to hours at the library, private training sessions with Lilith, school clubs and councils, as well as occasionally tutoring other students for extra credit.

The morning of the field trip to the Emperor’s Castle Amity had tried to sneak away to school, the twins even tried to assist her. Unfortunately, her parents had anticipated the escape attempt and all three siblings were scolded for trying it. Amity had sulked in her room, though she would never admit to that, until she decided to watch something on her crystal ball. 

That decision had taken a bad day and made it so much worse, and there was nothing she could do about it. As news of Eda’s capture and sentencing interrupted regular viewing Amity had felt cold fear wash over her. If Eda was captured, where was Luz? She considered attempting to leave by the window of her room, but she had been warned by Emira that their parents had placed spells on the windows before leaving for work that day. She could not walk out at the time, the staff who worked in the manor during the day had been informed she was not to leave.

So, Amity was left that day with sporadic messages to and from the twins, and a few from Willow, as well as the live news coverage of the event. She had felt helpless, worried, and angry as she had watched events unfold. As much as Amity had always worked to become a member of the Emperor’s Coven, to serve the Emperor and be a part of something bigger than herself, she couldn’t fathom the sentence handed down to the Owl Lady. 

Amity had not spent large amounts of time with the wild witch, but the time she had spent had not suggested crimes worthy of petrification. Eda seemed to be gruff, eccentric, perhaps egotistic, but kind to those she allowed into her circle. She appeared to treat Luz as family, even though the human had basically dropped into her life. It just seemed unfitting of her primary crimes: petty theft, con-games, and refusal to join a Coven.

So, Amity worried, even once she witnessed the televised escape. As Amity worried, she had begun to re-examine everything she had once held as fact. Slowly she had been treated to more details, a call from Willow had enlightened her that Lilith had captured Luz and used her as bait to draw Eda out. Amity had not twitched on the video call, but out of view a swift circle drawn with her finger had ripped the poster of Lilith from her wall. The next day, in their typical trouble making fashion, the Twins had snuck Luz into her room after school. Amity had not thought to thank them, as she had awkwardly stumbled from bed to hug her friend. Over the next few hours, she managed to draw the full details of what Luz had seen, done, and heard from the other girl. The explanation of Luz being thrown by Lilith to the spikes below the bridge caused her to want to burn that torn poster.

The end of another week had come, and Amity was counting down the days until the cast would be removed and she could return to school. She and the twins had been called to the lounge to speak to their parents. Edric, Emira, and Amity all managed to withhold any urge to smile as their parents informed them of a sudden business trip. The promise of their parent’s absence for a time was enough to lift the spirits of all three teens.

Amity was planning to return to school, already certain she was falling behind, and follow that with time at the library. The twins somehow bounded up the stairs while making almost no noise, and both waited at the top to see if Amity would ask for their help. Amity moved slower on her crutches, which meant she was near the lounge doorway as her parents began to talk about their work.

“Polaris and his team have been working on an artifact that was recently acquired.” Alador Blight’s voice conveyed in the lounge.

“Surely that is not what all of the fuss in the Coven is about.” Odalia replied to her husband and Amity stilled to listen.

“Polaris and his entire team were pulled from other projects by order of the Emperor himself.” Alador confirmed. “He told me it is a portal to the human realm.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

It had been easy to convince the twins Amity just wanted to see Luz, it had been harder to convince the twins to let her go alone. Not only had they been concerned because she was on crutches, but they were in the mood to play their favorite role of annoying older siblings. Amity had played the only card she could think of to get them not to follow her.

“I might try to tell her how I feel today, and I can’t do that if you’re both watching.” Amity told them and the twins immediately turned into cooing messes.

“Oh, Mittens is finally going to make a move?” Edric danced a bit in place from excitement.

“So proud of you, Baby Sister.” Emira playfully winked at her. “Go get your cutie.”

“You two are embarrassing.” Amity informed them, but thankfully the lie had the sought-after effect. They allowed Amity to head to the Owl House alone, watching her summon an Abomination to carry her there. Once she arrived, and dealt with the bird tube, she was finally able to crutch into the living room and was greeted by three curious inhabitants.

“Amity!” Luz abandoned her homework and bounded over to her friend, wrapping her in a careful hug before helping her over to the couch. “I didn’t know you were coming; I would have walked with you.”

“How certain are you that you destroyed the portal, Luz?” Amity jumped to the topic quickly and everything seemed to go quiet as Luz’s expression wavered.

“I slapped about twenty fire glyphs on it, and I saw them activate.” Luz told her. “It was in pieces on the floor when I last saw it.”

“We might have a problem.” Amity told them, taking hold of Luz’s hand and turning her attention to the older witches in the room. “I overheard my parents speaking, and the Emperor’s Coven has an artifact they say is a portal to the Human Realm. One of my father’s friends oversees the team working on it.”

“Working on it how?” Eda asked, exchanging a look with Lilith.

“I’m not sure, but whatever they’re doing to it they’re supposed to start testing it soon.” Amity sighed. “I wasn’t allowed to leave the house until my parents left a few hours ago, and I didn’t want to risk telling you this any other way but in person.”

“We can’t let Bonehead keep that, we’ll have to bust in.” Eda said, her tone suggesting that was the most obvious action to take.

“Into the Emperor’s Castle? Without your magic?!” Amity shifted her gold eyes between her human friend and the elder witches, hoping one of them would tell her that was not what they meant.

“They will not have had time to properly change the security protocols.” Lilith stated, looking at Eda as she seemed to consider her personal knowledge of the Castle. “I believe, if we are careful, I can lead us in undetected.”

“Maybe we should go knock out some Coven members at the market, steal their robes as disguises.” Luz suggested.

“Actually, as long as none of you ask why, I might have acquired a few robes and masks and kept them hidden away.” Eda informed them with a short laugh.

“You what?!” Amity and Lilith exclaimed this in unison, though Luz only gave a happy cheer.

“Perhaps we should give this a bit more thought.” Lilith said, as Eda turned with the clear intent of leaving the room.

“We can’t risk Bonehead getting that portal working, Lily.” Eda disagreed. “Between the three of us we should be able to steal it back or finish torching it.”

“Four.” Amity corrected and brought all their eyes to her.

“Kid, you already have a broken leg.” Eda reminded her.

“My cast comes off in a few days, if you’re willing to wait.” Amity responded. “Otherwise, I’m not letting Luz, or any of you, try this with only glyphs.” She turned her eyes to Luz. “I know you already used them pretty successfully once, but you might not be as lucky a second time.”

“And your leg, Amity?” Lilith asked uneasily.

“I can have an Abomination carry me, as I did on the way here.”

“You’re not going to stay behind, no matter what we say, are you?” Eda asked, watching Amity and seeing the teen’s determined expression.

“Not a chance.” Amity agreed, her hand tightening on Luz’s hand seemingly without either girl noticing. 

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Amity was more uncomfortable than she would ever have expected in the stolen robes. In order to infiltrate the Castle they had nixed the abomination carrying Amity, instead they actually carried her in on a stretcher, an extra cloak thrown over her to hide her cast, and she pretended to be unconscious behind her mask. Lilith led them to a lesser gate of the castle, one near the wing of full-time healers which worked inside the castle itself. Eda and Luz followed Lilith, allowing the former coven leader to do any needed talking, as they carried Amity between them.

“We’re almost in A. . .” Luz stopped herself, nearly muttering her friend’s name but remembering she had been told not to use anyone’s real name here. She tilted her cowl and mask covered head down a bit, watching her disguised friend. “Anytime now.”

“What’s this about?” A burly guard at the gate asked, and Lilith held a hand up to tell them to stop.

“A wild witch got the drop on this one, she needs to be taken to the healers.” Lilith’s voice was deeper than normal, the result of a hastily cast spell from Amity.

“Proceed.” The guard waved them past, seemingly having lost interest in them already. This was followed by several minutes of silence, and several shifts in direction. Finally, Amity heard a door open, and it seemed they had entered a side room. The stretcher was eased to the ground and Luz was soon helping Amity to her feet.

“It shouldn’t seem at all strange to see a coven member on crutches leaving this wing, at least.” Lilith told them, as Eda got the crutches off the underside of the stretcher.

“I still think we would have moved faster with the abomination idea.” Eda grumbled which drew a sigh from Lilith.

“We need stealth more than speed, Edalyn.” The elder Clawthorne told her.

They did not stay long, departing and making their way as casually as possible through the halls of the castle. Lilith had a theory as to where the portal would be stored, if it were really here, while they were trying to piece it back together. The entire event required a lot of trust in Lilith, which left the teens of the group both feeling fidgety. King’s voice floated from the lump on Luz’s back where he was concealed beneath her cloak. He spoke softly but loud enough for the four to hear.

“Are we there yet?” The demon asked in a bored tone.

“Hush.” Eda muttered back toward King.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Present time:

Amity’s retelling of the events was interrupted when Willow’s father knocked on the door before opening it. He set two plates with sandwiches and two cups of apple blood on Willow’s desk. The man offered them a kind smile again and reminded the girls not to stay up too late since it was a school night. They both agreed and thanked him, before he slipped back out and closed the bedroom door.

“When did someone catch on to all of you?” Willow asked as they ate.

“The first room Lilith thought it was in was wrong, and she bluffed about our presence. I think that probably caused suspicions and they might have alerted someone.” Amity shrugged. “The second chamber we checked had some experiment, and I even noticed my father’s friend. Lilith had nearly convinced some Coven Guards we were there to give them a break when another group burst through the doors.”

“Looking for you?” Willow watched Amity nod and winced.

“This happened just as someone activated this weird contraption, at the center of it were pieces of the portal. At lease Luz told me later they were pieces of the portal.” The green haired teen frowned as she recalled the events of that night. “It became chaos, and because nearly everyone in the room was wearing coven robes sometimes it was hard to tell who was where. I stayed close to Luz and King, and I summoned an Abomination to carry me so I could move faster. We ended up backing up this ramp toward the portal, which was sparking.”

“It was sparking?” Willow’s green eyes grew wide as she watched her friend nod. “The new one didn’t do that.”

“I don’t think they’re supposed to, Luz seemed to think the sparks were weird too and she’s seen the portal often before all of this.” She drew a circle, casting an illusion spell which showed Willow what that portal had looked like. Both girls shuddered as the image shot sparks randomly in all directions. “At that point we were trying to destroy it, because we’d agreed if we were caught there was no safe way to get it out. Luz was preparing fire glyphs, King running between her and various points to attach them to higher spots on whatever the thing they were building was.”

“Did any of them see your faces?”

“I don’t think so, we managed to keep the masks and cowls on somehow. I don’t know about Eda and Lilith afterward though.”

“And then?” The other girl prompted when Amity paused.

“And then he seemed to come out of nowhere.” She cringed very obviously, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I have never seen the Emperor that close, and I don’t think I ever want to again. He was holding Eda and Lilith at bay, and still approaching us. Lilith pulled a glyph and threw it more or less at us, and I had my abomination drop me and moved between us and the Emperor. . .” She appeared pained just thinking about it. “One of those ice pillars like Luz makes hit us, and it was huge. Luz, King, and I were thrown into the center of the portal thing and we landed hard in the dirt on the other side.”

“In the human world?”

“That’s where Luz said we were, though all I noticed at first was some cabin that was falling apart and strange trees. We were lucky, it tossed us out somewhere Luz was familiar with. We hid nearby at first, waiting to see if the portal would reappear, but after an hour or two we decided that wasn’t going to happen.” Amity sighed heavily and shrugged. “The rest was mostly just waiting for all of you to come get us.”

“I’m sorry, Amity.” Willow offered a kind smile. “I know you care about Luz, maybe her Mom will let her come soon.”

“I, uh, I hope so.” The green haired teen started blushing and avoiding eye contact. “Otherwise I might have to accost Eda just to go on our second date.”

“Wait?!” Willow’s face lit up with excitement. “You finally told her? And you two are finally dating?”

“Willow, it hasn’t been that long.” Amity replied in a very embarrassed manner.

“Watching you two was almost painful sometimes. I really thought you’d pass out blushing a few times.” Willow laughed when that comment made Amity cover her face with her hands. She patted her friend’s head; the other teen did not look up as she mumbled into her hands. “I’m happy for you both, you know. Sometimes Luz stares at you like nobody else exists.”

“She what?!” Amity peeked out between her fingers and was greeted with a slightly smug grin from Willow. “You never told me that.”

“I told you she watches you, I thought if I elaborated more I’d be kind of interfering too much.” The plant witch shook her head. “I was starting to consider trying to push you two though.”

“So, everyone could tell?”

“Pretty sure Gus had no idea, a couple times he asked if you were sick when you’d be blushing over Luz.”

“We should try to get some sleep.” Amity changed the subject and moved to go root through her bag. Willow grinned, she was still worried about Luz but at least this was good news.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

{Hey Ami, it’s the first morning since you returned to the Isles and I already miss you. Mom isn’t home yet, and I’m about to head out on my paper route. Not gonna lie, I really hope I see you again before you see this message. Give Willow and Gus a hug for me when you read this.} From Luz the Human to Mittens.

Luz Noceda had spent most of the night as a restless, over thinking, mess. Eda and King had slept on the couch, and Luz had paced her room for a few hours before she could even try to relax. She picked up an Azura book, but the green haired heroin on the cover just brought Amity back to mind so she set it aside. She pulled up fan fiction websites on the computer, but she couldn’t fall into the stories because she was too anxious. At one point she just kind of yelled into a pillow so no one would hear the frustrated sound. She wished Camila had been home so they could have talked about everything before the Blight siblings went home. Still, she was incredibly grateful to Edric and Emira for gifting her a scroll. Her cell phone had never been able to interact with the scrolls, which was frustrating as well since the two served basically the same purposes.

When she slipped out to start her paper route Luz was hoping the physical act of riding around would burn some of her restless energy. She challenged herself to make it to Señora Cortez’s to pick up the papers faster. She challenged herself to finish each street of her route faster. She might have accidentally bounced papers off of windows once or twice, nothing broke though. By the time she was returning to the house she was extra sweaty, breathing hard, and still hadn’t truly burned away that restless feeling. Her mother was not home yet, so she stowed her bike and all but bounced inside. Eda groaned something and rolled away from the noise of Luz’s return.

Luz checked her scroll, no messages yet. She caught a shower and checked her scroll again after. No messages. She missed her friends, and now that Amity had gone home that only amplified the feeling. By the time Camila returned from work, breakfast was on the table, dishes were done, and Eda and King were both sipping coffee and looking less than happy to be awake. Luz was bouncing in place, checking her scroll again, when Camila entered the kitchen. As soon as the younger Noceda noticed her she bolted over to hug her mother.

“Hola, cariño. (Hello, Sweetie.)” Camila greeted her, returning the hug as she eyed their guests. “Did Edric, Emira, and Amity head home?”

“Yeah, couldn’t risk the twins being gone over night on a school night.” Eda responded before yawning into her coffee mug.

“SO. . .” Luz interrupted and began rocking on her feet. “Time to talk, right?”

“Cariño, you need to go to school.” Camila reminded Luz and stopped her with a look as the teen looked ready to object. “School today is not optional.”

“Sí, mami.(Yes, Mommy.)” Luz agreed as her shoulders sagged. Camila kissed Luz’s head and hugged her.

“Confía en mí, cariño. Tengo mucho que discutir con la señorita Eda, pero no decidiré nada hasta que llegue a casa. (Trust me, Sweetie. I have a lot to discuss with Miss Eda, but I won’t decide anything until you get home.)” Camila tried to reassure the teen and received a sad little nod in response. Eda quietly eyed them, she still did not understand Spanish, but the tone of a comforting promise was easy to detect.

“Your daughter is a good kid.” Eda said after Luz had left the room to get her school bag. Camila’s brown eyes regarded the gray-haired witch with a careful look, before she moved to pour herself a cup of coffee.

“I have a lot of questions and concerns to discuss with you, if you feel awake enough.” Camila said from where she was fixing her coffee. Eda rested her cheek on one hand, and that elbow on the table, as she watched the other woman.

“I think if I drink another coffee, I should be good for any conversation.” The witch finally said and was rewarded with a quiet laugh from the human.

“She woke you far earlier than you would have liked?” It was worded as a question, but Eda could tell Camila knew the answer before she spoke those words.

“Yes!” King yelled, inserting himself into the conversation. The little demon was never one for tact, and this was no different. “She is so antsy since Amity left.”

“Yeah, Little Blight means a lot to her.” Eda agreed with a smirk. Her gold and gray eyes watched Camila walk over, the other woman setting another coffee in front of Eda before taking a seat at the table and sipping her own.

“Amity is wonderful.” Camila commented, before pulling out a notepad with a long list of questions. Eda smirked even as King groaned. “Why did you let my daughter stay with you at the beginning of summer? She said she wanted to learn magic, but why did you agree?”

“Snacks.” King said and Eda tapped his nose to quiet him.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Edric, Emira, and Mittens 2.0 arrived at Hexside early and made their way to one of the entrances to the Secret Room of Short Cuts. They slipped inside and waited, Edric and Mittens 2.0 starting a game of Hexas Hold’em on the floor to pass the time. Emira smirked in amusement, Edric had made a mission of teaching the game to the advanced illusion clone and she was honestly getting pretty good at it. They were on their second game when the sound of a door opening drew Emira’s golden eyes away from watching them. She saw Viney, Amity, and Willow enter through a door part way up the looping ramp. Amity was in the casual clothes she’d worn the day she’d left for the Owl House, and Emira felt her chest tighten slightly at the thought. Amity vanishing from the face of the Isles was probably the most terrifying thing the twins had experienced in their young lives.

“What are you doing?” Amity asked as Emira pulled her into a tight hug as soon as she was close enough. She squirmed a bit, before submitting and hugging her sister back. “Em?”

“We just both really missed you, Mittens.” Emira whispered and felt Amity seem to relax a bit more into the hug.

“I missed you idiots too.” Amity conceded quietly.

“Baby sister!” Edric yelled before joining the hug with only that exclamation as a warning. Amity found herself squashed between the twins, who actually tightened their hug until she jokingly yelled at them to stop. Willow giggled off to the side as Viney coughed in an effort not to laugh at the siblings’ antics.

“Okay, okay!” Amity was finally able to break free of the group embrace and found herself stopping to stare at a seemingly perfect double of herself waiting nearby. “Hi?” She said because she really did not know what else to say.

“Hello.” Mittens 2.0 responded, eyeing her with a slightly canted head. “We brought some of the notes, but most of them are on your desk back at the manor. I made sure they are organized by date and class.”

“Oh, uh, thank you.” Amity could not hide her surprised expression, and she was surprised the twins had created anything that would be so organized.

“Here’s your bag.” Emira held the messenger bag out to her, which finally pulled her attention away from her clone. “There’s a uniform at the top, and that door over there leads to one of the least used restrooms in the school.”

“Well that’s convenient.” Amity said in a clearly still surprised voice.

“I’ll go with Amity.” Willow said and offered Mittens 2.0 a wave as they passed.

“Nice to meet you.” Amity said as a farewell before she and Willow slipped through the indicated door. Edric turned to his twin with a playful grin and waved Mittens 2.0 over.

“Come on, Mittens 2.0.” Edric threw an arm across her shoulders and started toward a different door. “I’ll show you the fastest way to sneak off campus. You remember where you’re supposed to go, don’t you?”

“Of course.” She replied as they slipped out one of the doors, leaving Emira and Viney alone in the main room for the moment.

“So. . .” Viney approached Emira with a shy smile. “When I got home there was a package waiting for me.”

“Was there?” Emira said, her voice taking on a very sly tone. “Imagine that.”

“You really don’t need to send me gifts, Emmy.” Viney told her, reaching over and playing a bit with Emira’s cowl.

“But I wanted to.” Emira told her and moved so that she could slip her arms around Viney’s waist. The shorter witch hummed a bit and kissed her cheek as she returned her embrace.

“So, the candy and Griffin treats had nothing to do with having to dodge dates?” Viney whispered and was rewarded with a guilty look for the green haired girl.

“Did Puddles like her treats?” She asked to avoid the question and got a laugh from the Duel Track student.

“Puddles loved the treats.” Viney confirmed. “Are you planning to spoil my Griffin?”

“Aww, Puddles is such a good girl I don’t think it’s possible to spoil her.” Emira basically cooed and it sent them both into a bout of laughter.

“Thank you, Emmy.” Viney said as they slowly stopped laughing.

“Anything for my girl, and her adorable sidekick.”

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH

Luz dragged through her school day. Her restless night caught up to her as she had to sit through classes, and she found it impossible to focus. Instead she doodled in her notebook, trying to look like she was taking notes instead of drawing tiny versions of her friends. King with a little crown, a little caricature of Gus waving his flags, Willow holding a flowering plant, Eda smirking, adorable little Owlbert, Barcus, Viney, Jerbo,. . . And Amity. Amity several times. Amity smiling, Amity in Grudgby gear, Amity reading with little hearts around her.

“How did I not realize sooner?” Luz whispered to herself at lunch, as she really noticed how many of her doodles were versions of Amity. She smiled tiredly, working on a more detailed sketch of her friend . . . Huh, girlfriend. Luz let that thought sit in her mind, feeling a sort of warm feeling spread inside her as she really thought about that. “I have a girlfriend.” She whispered to herself with a dumbfounded grin.

“Nosensa!” A voice called and Luz closed her notebook. She really did not feel like seeing this guy again, but sure enough Todd was walking over to where she sat under a tree on the grass. “Where’s your friend?”

“My girlfriend is sick today.” Luz told him, hoping she sounded polite rather than aggravated. She really did not feel like putting up with him, she would rather daydream if it would make time pass faster.

“Oh.” Todd seemed to not have a plan for what to do with that answer, so they found themselves just kind of staring at each other awkwardly. After a few long moments, the jock spoke again. “What does she see in you?”

“What the heck does that mean?” Luz glared up at him, but the jock grimaced at his own words. He surprised her mildly by moving to sit beside her instead of continuing to tower over her.

“Sorry, that wasn’t how I meant that to come out.” He admitted and she watched him skeptically. Luz did not want problems, but this guy had generally been a jerk every time she had run across him.

“What did you mean?” Luz asked slowly, and in a less accusatory tone.

“Look, I’m a varsity guy.” Todd said, and gestured to some patches on his jacket. “Made JV my Freshmen year, and varsity this year and last.”

“Okay, I don’t see where this is going yet.” Luz admitted and Todd sort of squirmed in place. That was when Luz realized this was the first time she had run across the jock without his pack of friends.

“My sister went to junior high with you, she told me all kinds of strange stories.” Todd informed her and Luz winced, because even not knowing who his sister was, she could imagine which stories he heard. “Did you really bring a bag of snakes to school last year?”

“They were for my book report!” Luz said defensively and Todd looked at her with a skeptical expression.

“Okay, sure, book report. Book report with snakes, right.” Todd sounded like he still did not get it, but at least he was not saying anything insulting at the moment. “So, here’s the thing: How do you, a freshmen girl with the social rep of an outcast, have a cute girlfriend? How do I, a jock that every damn movie says girls want, not?”

“Uh.” Luz made a weird face as she turned that statement over in her mind. When she had first started attending Hexside she had had a weird little fantasy about maybe finding romance with an upperclassman. She did not picture someone like Todd, but now that he mentioned she could at least admit that stereotypes claimed he should be dating the cheer captain or something. “Are you actually wanting a serious answer?”

“Yes, Nosensa, why do you think I’m sitting here?” Todd snarked and Luz let a frustrated sigh free. This boy was a jerk, even when he appeared to be trying to be nice. She leaned against the tree, looking at her hands instead of Todd as she spoke.

“Well you could start with that.”

“With what?”

“Learning people’s names or at least not calling them something insulting.” Luz sort of waved her hand about a bit as she spoke. “Amity and I have been getting to know each other for months, we didn’t just suddenly decide we liked each other. I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl who likes people that insult her friends.” She thought about her time getting to know Amity, and an amused smiled lit her face at the way things had changed over time. “Amity and I have shared interests, so maybe spend more time around the girls who watch the games or the female jocks.”

“I forgot your name.” Todd admitted and Luz turned her brown eyes to the boy with a raised brow. He seemed uncomfortable admitting that. “I know it sounds kind of like Nosensa, but that’s what my sister called you.”

“Luz Noceda.” She drew it out carefully to make it as clear as possible. “And who the heck is your sister?”

“You two were in cheer together, her name’s Jennifer. I think she had a couple classes with you too.” He elaborated and Luz winced.

“Oh, yeah, she was in basically every class that sent me to the office.” Luz heard the older boy laugh and watched him to try to gauge if it was a bad laugh or a good one.

“She kind of hates you.” He told her and shook his head. “You’re weird as hell, kid. Still, that thing about the play try out sounded pretty epic.”

“Uh, which play?” Luz rolled through a list of incidents in her mind, but she realized his sister was present for a lot of those moments. Yup, that was a person she’d probably never win over.

“I don’t know, but you threw sausages or something as you pretended to stab yourself.” He was grinning, and Luz at least felt like the intent was to laugh with her and not at her this time.

“It made the scene more real.” Luz stated, feeling a little embarrassed about it now.

“Alright, Noceda.” He said it carefully this time and pushed back to his feet. “Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime.” Luz said in a confused tone, she found herself silently hoping he did not actually seek her out again. He nodded and walked away, so she hoped she at least did not have to worry about future harassment from the boy. She briefly wondered if he and Boscha would get along and discarded that idea with a shudder. No, Boscha needed calming influence if anything. Somebody that could balance out her, uh, crazy jock, bully moments. Yup, Luz was done with this line of thought.

TOH TOHTOH TOH tohtohtoh TOHtohTOH


	12. Kaleidoscope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Veteran’s Day (United States calendar)! That said, I am a U.S. Army veteran, so to celebrate Veteran’s Day I am posting a chapter mid-week! Enjoy, and please drop a review if you can.
> 
> It’s canon that Gus is 12, and while he’s intelligent he seems pretty focused on Human Artifacts and Illusions. That said, I am basically choosing to play Gus as oblivious to romantic overtones unless someone points them out.
> 
> Bingus, thank you. You really did make my week.
> 
> Lexa_Alycia, there is a scene in here which is a reference to one of your reviews. Hope you spot it and enjoy.
> 
> Tori Blackwood: Thank you for the assist with the Spanish corrections. I really appreciate it. Please continue to let me know anytime you see errors.

In the Human World:  
Kaleidoscope:

“This school, Hexside?” Camila asked and received a nod from Eda. “How is Luz doing there? How are her grades? Does she have friends, other than Amity?”

“Oh, the kid loves school, and she seems to collect friends.” Eda laughed as she thought over a few notable incidents. “Her closest ones are Willow, Gus, and Amity. Those kids seem to do almost everything together. Luz and Amity were even Grom Queens together.”

“Grom? Is that some kind of dance?” The human woman was imagining a prom setting, though from what Luz had told her nothing on the Isles was what you would first expect. Still, she remembered the images on Luz’s phone of herself and her friends in formal clothes.

“More or less.” The witch smirked and sipped her coffee.

“And her grades?” Camila asked and watched the witch think that one over.

“They don’t grade her exactly the same as her friends, she doesn’t do magic in the same manner.” Eda admitted. “Her teachers say good things about her, and she’s been learning a lot of new things. Her grades are good, and she enjoys homework more than a kid should in my opinion.”

“It’s the magic, Luz has always loved fantasy worlds.” Camila gave a tired smile and waved her hand as she spoke. “Once she found that Azura series, I think it became the center of her world.”

“I hate those books. I love your kid like she was my own, but I hate those books.” Eda lamented and Camila could not help laughing at her. Eda made an exaggerated expression of disgust, even as King started mumbling about his favorite Azura scenes. “They’re so flowery! No one talks like that!”

“About her friends or rather about Amity: Is she really okay?” Her concerned brown eyes watched Eda as she spoke. “She seemed so unused to being shown care. The twins assured me her parents haven’t actually disowned her, but she seems like she needs more parental love than she gets.”

“I knew her parents back in my school days.” Eda said this with a sort of huff and a shake of her head. “Amity comes from an old, rich, and powerful family.” Eda used air quotes and a tone that made clear what she thought of the powerful families. “The twins seem like they found whatever balance they need, but Little Blight is still trying to live up to the family name. I don’t think she’s in danger or anything, but her parents were always all about appearances even when they were kids. They probably put a lot of pressure on the girl to be perfect, you know.”

“I need you to be honest about my next question, can you do that?”

“Sure thing.” Eda smirked and her gold fang caught the light which made Camila raise an eyebrow at the other woman.

“Is it safe for Luz to be in the Isles? I know about her fight with this Emperor Belos person, and that sounded incredibly dangerous.”

“Oh, that fight was not something I ever would have suggested she get into.” Eda sort of played with one of her gray forelocks. “If I didn’t already have gray hair, Luz would turn it gray. Still, I always thought humans were fragile and she keeps proving me wrong. I would do anything in my power to protect her, but I also want to see her learn and grow. There’s always some risk in life, but it’s manageable.”

“And this Emperor?”

“The Emperor wanted me arrested for years, I was dodging that long before I met Luz. Unfortunately, one of his lackies targeted Luz as bait to bring me to him.” Eda did not elaborate that the lacky was her own sister. “It was a terrible experience, but it had the benefit that he publicly removed the order for my arrest. So long as we stay away from him, he has no reason to come after us.”

“No reason?” Camila gave Eda a very skeptical look and the witch sighed.

“He wants a portal to the human world; I don’t know why but he does. The most open and plain fact is this: If he gets a working portal Luz isn’t any safer here than she is in the Isles.”

“I’ll have to consider that.” Camila’s expression was clearly uncomfortable with that thought. “Is there some kind of interdimensional mail service?”

“No.” The witch eyed her in a very confused manner. “Why would there be one when the portals are kind of rare.”

“So how was Luz sending me letters?” The human woman watched Eda seem more confused.

“Actual letters?”

“Yes, I can show you some. She wrote to me pretending she was at camp.” As they stared at each other for a few silent moments Camila started to feel extremely uncomfortable. “Someone wrote to me.”

“We would have to ask the kid, but I’m pretty sure she only wrote you on that human scroll thing.”

“On a what now?”

“Human wonder rectangle!” King interjected and pointed at Camila’s phone which was laying on the table.

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Agustus “Gus” Porter was no slouch when it came to Illusions. The day that Luz tried to borrow the Healing Hat he had created and remotely controlled Illusion Clones of Willow, Luz, and himself all at one time. Later that same day he’d successfully cloned Kikimora, a person he had only seen and heard up close on that field trip. Sure, his Illusion Clones of himself sometimes did not do what he told them to, but if he was honest that was because he imprinted his own personality onto them. That said, Gus was no Blight twin and still looked up to them as the Advanced Illusions students they were.

“So, how much magical energy does Mittens 2.0 still draw from both of you?” Gus asked, a notepad in hand as he sat on the floor of Edric’s bedroom. Emira lounged on Edric’s bed, messaging on her scroll but listening, and Edric himself sat on the floor near the foot of the bed.

“She actually doesn’t draw energy directly from us anymore.” Edric told him with a pride filled smirk. When Gus looked up at him with wide brown eyes filled with disbelief Edric laughed. “She didn’t start out that way, for about a week we were constantly improving her at night.”

“For three days or so we didn’t let her speak at school.” Emira added without looking at the boys.

“But surely an Illusion Clone that has physical presence, one that can be touched, has to be drawing energy to renew itself?” Gus gestured wildly as he considered it. “I mean, she isn’t just an image or a sound, she has matter somehow!”

“You aren’t wrong.” Edric said and waited as he just knew Emira was moving to sit up straight. She was the one who had designed this part of the illusion.

“She eats.” Emira said and laughed when Gus looked utterly confused. “Not in the sense you or I do, she eats magic.”

“That sounds terrifyingly like that Greater Basilisk.” Gus whispered. “And also, awesome.”

“We found a way to allow her to absorb simple spells, like light spells for example.” Edric continued the explanation. “We use light spells a lot in fact. Oh, and we have also given her illusions of food and she absorbed the energy used to create those spells.”

“How often does she, uh, eat?” The young illusionist tilted his head. In his mind he was imagining Mittens 2.0, and by extension Amity, eating a light spell like a piece of fruit.

“It varies and trust me when I say she tells us if she needs a snack.” Edric winced at some memory of Mittens 2.0.

“If she can avoid too much physical interaction it helps.” Emira told him. “The more she has to sustain her physical form when a normal illusion would pop, the more energy she uses.”

“So, she isn’t unpoppable?” Gus asked this as he scribbled quickly onto his notepad.

“No, she’s not indestructible.” Edric sighed. “That’s why we didn’t want her doing things like scuffling with Boscha in the hallways. She expends energy to make contact with others and loses more energy the more force is involved.”

“Like when she elbows, Ed!” Emira added cheerfully. “That takes more energy to do without popping than a handshake would.”

“Did one of you program her to do things like elbow Edric? She seems. . .” He paused as he was searching for a way to explain what he was thinking. “I mean Illusion Clones have personality, but she seems on another level. And she doesn’t act like you two, which is kind of what I would have expected in the long term.”

“That’s because we imprinted her with the things Amity has done or would do.” Edric flopped to the floor as if he were dying. “It was exhausting!”

“We loaded her with all kind of baby sister, top student, perfect student things.” Emira said. “It wasn’t perfect though, because we filled her with our memories of Amity.”

“Why didn’t she know who Luz was?” Gus watched the twins exchange a guilty look.

“We didn’t think she’d need to since Luz was off in the Human World.” Edric laughed where he was still laid out on the floor. “That was an error.”

“Okay, so she eats, she thinks, and she isn’t tethered to you, but she isn’t like, alive?”

“Mittens 2.0 is a masterpiece, but no she isn’t alive. We could debate on if she thinks, at least if she thinks any more than those clones we all send when we don’t want to go to class.” Emira shrugged. “I think it seems more dramatic because those ones act like the person who cast them, normally anyway, but Mittens 2.0 is. . .”

“Not us.” Edric finished as he sat up. “So, ready for more detail on the spells?”

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Luz was tired by the end of the school day, but she was also extra motivated to get home. The teenage Latina ran most of the way home, dropping her keys as she fumbled to unlock the front door. She was kneeling to grab them when the door opened, and Eda grinned down at her.

“Hey kid, welcome home.” The gray-haired witch let Luz in and watched her basically bolt passed in search of Camila. Eda heard a sort of thud elsewhere in the house as she closed the door, shaking her head with an amused smile.

“Well, I guess Camila’s awake now.” King commented from the couch.

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Luz accidentally slammed the door of her mother’s bedroom open, causing the older Noceda to bolt upright in her bed. The younger Noceda cringed and quickly apologized, as her mother turned to look at her. Luz had not even put her school bag down, and now fiddled with the strap as she fidgeted.

“Cariño, sé que estás ansiosa, pero por favor ten cuidado. (Baby, I know you’re anxious, but please be careful.)” Camila’s voice was soft as she spoke.

“Sí, mami, lo siento. (Yes mommy, sorry.)” Luz bit her lip, until her mother waved her hand in a little circular motion to get her to speak again. “I was wondering if you’ve thought about Hexside.”

“Ven aquí, mija. (Come here, daughter.)” Camila patted some open space on the bed beside her, moving until she could lean against the headboard. Luz dropped her bag near the door, then climbed onto the bed next to her mother. Camila lifted one arm and Luz happily moved to lean into her side, as Camila draped that arm over her shoulders to hug her close. “I told you I would not make a decision before you got home, didn’t I?”

“Sí, mami. (Yes, Mommy.)”

“Cariño, ¿qué quieres hacer? Quiero saber lo que estás pensando. (Sweety, what do you want to do? I want to know what you are thinking.)” Camila asked this and Luz looked down. The teen fiddled with her hands, spinning her fingers about each other almost like she was playing with an invisible rubber band.

“Al principio del verano, sólo quería unos meses de magia y fantasía. (At the beginning of summer, I just wanted a few months of magic and fantasy, you know.)” Luz glanced up, and Camila gave her a kind smile. “Luego me hice amiga de Willow y Gus, y nos divertimos mucho. (Then I became friends with Willow and Gus, and we had so much fun.)”

“You miss them, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we’ve been together almost everyday the entire summer. They’re really important to me.” Luz flushed a bit and paused before she continued. “And I met Amity. We didn’t get along at first, but I think we both changed each other a bit. Amity has helped me learn to focus more, and she and Eda have helped me learn to think a bit more before I act.”

“A bit?”

“Well, I still jump into things sometimes, like challenging a sports team captain to a game I didn’t know how to play.”

“And Amity broke her leg in that game?”

“Yes.” Luz sighed at the thought. “She’s told me that wasn’t my fault, but I still feel bad because she was helping us.”

“Us?”

“The team captain was bullying Willow, and something Amity said left me thinking if we beat her at her own game she’d respect Willow. Amity told me it was a bad idea, but when we needed another player she still helped us.” A sort of wistful smile lit Luz’s face as she thought about Amity walking over to them, even though Boscha was angry about it. “No fue fácil conquistar a Amity, pero siempre está ahí cuando la necesito. Y su sonrisa es tan linda, especialmente cuando se está sonrojando. (It wasn’t easy to win Amity over, but she’s always there when I need her. And her smile is so cute, especially when she’s blushing.)”

“Te estás perdiendo otra vez, cariño. (You’re getting lost again, sweety.)” Camila told her with a laugh and Luz bit her lip.

“It isn’t easy at Hexside, Mommy, but I really love it. I love my friends, I love King, I love Eda, I love Owlbert, and I even love Hooty. Hooty’s unique, but he’s kind.” Luz’s brown eyes slipped shut and she sounded nervous. “Te extrañé, mami, y es bueno estar en casa, pero realmente desearía poder seguir yendo a Hexside. Desearía que conocieras a Gus y Willow, y tal vez a algunos de mis otros amigos también. (I missed you, Mommy, and it’s nice to be home, but I really wish I could keep going to Hexside. I wish you could meet Gus and Willow, and maybe some of my other friends too.)”

“¿Por qué no invitas a Gus y Willow este fin de semana? Tengo unos días libres, puedo conocer a tus amigos y tú puedes tener una pijamada. (Why don’t you invite Gus and Willow over this weekend. I have a few days off, I can meet your friends, and you can have a sleep over.)” The effect of those words was immediate, Luz hopped off the bed in excitement and started toward the door. Camila called to her and Luz paused in the doorway. “No olvides invitar a Amity también. (Don’t forget to invite Amity too.)”

“No podría olvidar a Amity si lo intentara, mami. (I couldn’t forget Amity if I tried, Mommy.)”

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Luz came back into the living room, her scroll in one hand, just as Eda was pulling the portal from where she kept it hidden in her hair. The human teen would never understand how that worked, but Eda’s hair was kind of like Mary Poppin’s bag and she had just come to accept that as fact. She rushed over to her mentor as the woman set the portal down and bounced in place, causing the adult witch to eye her skeptically.

“So, did Mama Noceda say something good?” Eda asked, watching her apprentice practically vibrate with energy. There was a pause, and then Luz lost a little of the energy she had just had.

“Actually, she kind of didn’t answer.” The teen only frowned for a moment before shaking off the expression. “Are you going back? Can I come with you for a couple minutes? I just need to contact my friends.”

“Nope, no go.” Eda shook her head and ignored the pout the teen aimed at her. She pointed at the teenager, giving her a stern look. “You weren’t here for that talk earlier; I am not risking Mama Noceda’s wrath.”

“But Eda, wait are you saying you’re afraid of my Mom?” Luz looked shocked. “The most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles?”

“Stop that.” Eda gave a half-hearted glare at the teen. “First, I’m still adjusting to this glyph magic, and more importantly she’s your mother. You have proven to be way more formidable than I ever thought a human would be, so I am not testing the woman who made you.”

“That’s sweet, in a twisted sort of way.” Luz admitted and King laughed from the couch.

“I’m just popping through to talk with Lily, catch up on things, and make sure she fed Hooty.” Eda waved a hand dismissively. “Hear her complain about how long I am taking.” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial tone. “Then I’m gonna leave her alone with Hooty again, let him drive her up a wall.”

“If I promise to stay on this side can you at least leave the portal open? Maybe the signal will be stronger for the scrolls.”

“Will I don’t see why not, just stay on this side. I really don’t want to have escaped petrification to die at Mama Noceda’s hands.” The witch shuddered and King was laughing so hard he seemed to be having trouble breathing. Eda opened the portal and slipped through it with out another word, and Luz turned to King.

“What did they talk about?” Luz’s tone was a mixture of fear and shock that only kept King laughing longer. Her focus on the little demon was interrupted by a few alerts sounding from her scroll, seeming to confirm the idea that messages passed more quickly with the portal open. There were messages from Willow, Gus, Viney, Ed, and Em though they were really all quick well wishes. Then there was a couple from Amity, and that made Luz feel warm inside.

{We made it back safely. Sweet dreams, Luz. Good luck talking to your Mom and Eda.} To Luz from Amity.

{I woke up today at Willow’s, and for a moment I forgot I was back in the Isles. I looked around for you before I remembered. I guess that sounds a bit dumb. I just want you to know I’m thinking about you.} To Luz from Amity. {I mean, I think about you a lot actually. Why did I write that? I’m sending this before I can over think it. Miss you.}

{AWWWWWWWWW!} To Amity from Luz. {I miss you too!}

Luz sent a quick response for now, then started setting up a group chat so that she could contact all of them at once. As much as she would love to see if a voice call to Amity was possible, she needed to get all three of them while the portal was open.

Group chat “My babies!”  
Amity B., Willow P., Gus P., and Luz the Human

{I know it will be a bit before you see this, will maybe. King and I are sitting in my living room with the portal open. Eda went to speak with Lilith. So, uh, are you guys seeing this?} From Luz.

{Luz! Hi! Is this real time?!} From Gus to the chat.

{Looks like, I just sent that last message.} From Luz to the chat.

{How are you? Has your Mom said anything?} From Amity to the chat.

{Amity misses you. I mean we all do, but Amity REALLY misses you.} From Willow to the chat.

{Willow!} From Amity to the chat.

{I miss all of you too. And awwwwww, Ami!} From Luz to the chat.

{Did I miss something?} From Gus to the chat.

{Yes.} From Willow to the chat.

{No, nothing you need to know.} From Amity to the chat.

{Amity and I are dating. : )} From Luz to the chat.

{What!? Congrats! I did not see that coming.} From Gus to the chat.

{I’m okay, I miss you a lot too, Ami. My Mom has still not said anything about if I can go back to Hexside but I do have some good news.} From Luz to the chat.

{What’s the good news?} From Willow to the chat.

{Mom wants me to invite the three of you over for a weekend.} From Luz to the chat.

{Weekend in the Human World?! YES YES YES!!!!!} From Gus to the chat.

{I think I’ll tell my parents I’m at the Owl House, but they’ll probably let me.} From Willow to the chat.

{I’m grounded.} From Amity to the chat.

{What about Mittens 2.0?} Gus asked to the chat.

{Wait, where is Mittens 2.0?} From Willow to the chat.

{Mittens 2.0 is still there?} From Luz to the chat.

{The twins are calling her their masterpiece. I’m not sure where she is, but they said she’s safe. I know she’s an illusion clone, but I feel a little strange asking her to come be grounded for me. Why does the idea feel so awkward?} From Amity to the chat.

{She’s so real.} From Gus to the chat. {But somehow also not.}

{I’ll talk to the twins about it.} From Amity to the chat.

{Which weekend?} From Willow to the chat.

{This weekend if you can. Come to the Owl House after school Friday and Eda will bring you guys through the portal a couple hours after school.} From Luz to the chat.

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Edric and Emira were at the desk in his room, plotting a prank, when the door popped open behind them. The twins looked over in unison, thankfully Amity was so used to this it did not even phase her. She closed the door and cast a quick spell to ensure their words would not be audible outside of Edric’s bedroom.

“Oh, this already looks interesting.” Edric said, smirking as Amity crossed her arms and tried not to look uncomfortable. Edric popped up from his seat, bounding over to drape an arm around his little sister. “To what do we owe the honor of your presence, Mittens?”

“What’s on your mind?” Emira asked, relaxing more into her chair, and watching her siblings.

“I need another favor.” Amity said this slowly, and clearly with a bit of reservation. Edric pulled away and placed a hand over his chest, as if clutching his heart.

“So soon?” He asked.

“Yeah, this is becoming a real habit, Mittens.” Emira’s teasing smile made Amity want to leave, but she took a breath and let it out slowly.

“I want to go spend the weekend at Luz’s house.” Amity told them. “Since I’m grounded though, I need someone to cover for me in case our parents come home from their trip.”

“Already missing your girlfriend?” Edric teased, expecting the normal response. Amity turned bright red, averted her gaze and mumbled something. The twins exchanged a look before Edric poked her shoulder. “What was that?”

“I said, yes, I miss my girlfriend!” Amity snapped. “Will you please stop teasing and help me?”

“Wait, so was that a real date you were on right before we brought you home?” Edric asked this with his eyes wide.

“Oh Titan, yes it was a real date, whatever that means.”

“We owe Viney snails.” Emira commented, which caused Amity to lose her annoyance in favor of confusion.

“You what?” She asked and the twins exchanged a look.

“Oh, nothing you should worry about.” Edric hugged her tightly and let out a nervous chuckle. “You just focus on catching up on homework so you and Luz can have your couple’s weekend.”

“What kind of siblings would we be if we didn’t have Mittens 2.0 cover for you?” Emira agreed. It was clear Amity knew they were changing the subject, but currently she was more concerned with the favor she wanted.

“Willow and Gus are coming too.” Amity told them and the twins waved that comment away in unison.

“Try not to forget they exist.” Emira teased, causing Amity to roll her eyes and turn toward the door. “Wait, when are you planning to leave?”

“After school Friday, straight from Hexside to the Owl House.”

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“Hey, beautiful, come here often?” Emira’s voice nearly purred as she strolled over and kissed Viney’s cheek. The Duel Track student laughed, as she finished putting books in her locker.

“Emmy, that was terrible. Of course, I come here often, this is my locker.” Viney turned to look at Emira, who was leaning on another locker, as she closed her own. She smiled at the Illusionist. “How’s my favorite girl?”

“I’m incredible now that I’m here with you.” Emira winked before they shared a laugh. “And I have the snails Ed and I owe you.”

“What snails?” She gave her a confused look.

“Well, you won a certain bet. You’ll have to collect from the old ladies yourself though.” Emira handed a pouch full of snails to her girlfriend, who took it with an amused smile.

“Good for Luz and Amity, I’m happy for them.”

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Friday seemed to take forever to arrive, even with Eda and King staying at the Noceda home those few days. Luz had done her absolute best not to cause any weirdness at school, not wanting to risk her mother changing her mind about the weekend sleep over. Even though Friday was a half day at her high school, it still seemed to take forever to end. She arrived home after school to find Eda and King sitting on the couch. Luz noticed Eda was reading “The Crucible” and frowned.

“Uh, Eda, where’d you get that?” Luz asked, wondering what her mentor was thinking about the play.

“Found it on a chair.” Eda commented, glancing up with a smirk. “These characters have no idea what they’re doing.”

“You’re enjoying it?” Luz asked with confusion.

“It’s a little tame, but I love a good horror story.” Eda responded before setting it aside. “And, I have a surprise.”

“What’s that?”

“Mama Noceda said you can come with me to go wait for your little friends.” Eda told her. Luz dropped her book bag and did a celebratory dance on the spot.

Several minutes later the portal opened inside the living room of the Owl House, and Eda, King, and Luz stepped through. Eda called out for Lilith, while King bounded off yelling the name of one of his stuffed minions. Luz took a moment to just breathe in the air around her, closing her eyes and basking in the sense of being in her second home. She opened her eyes when she heard someone coming down the stairs and turned to see who it was. Her eyes landed on a teen witch with green hair, a brown flair at the front, and a bored look on her face.

“Amity!” Luz nearly tackled the other girl as she reached the living room, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and hugging her tightly. “I missed you SOOOOO much!”

“Who are you?” The green-haired teen asked, and Luz jumped away in shock. Hurt did not properly explain what she felt at those words.

“Amity, it’s me, Luz.” She said. The bored look did not change much, merely acquiring a raised eyebrow as cold gold eyes watched her.

“Fear not, Human, that is not Amity.” Lilith’s voice proceeded her entrance into the room from the other side. Luz and the other girl both looked over at the dark-haired woman. “That is a very advanced illusion.”

“Oh!” Luz flushed in embarrassment and backed away from the illusion a bit more. “You’re Mittens 2.0., I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And you are the one Amity is not allowed to spend time with.” Mittens 2.0 said this as if it was common knowledge though both Luz and Lilith gave her confused looks.

“Since when?” Luz asked slowly.

“Since her mother insisted.” Mittens 2.0 looked at her nails, as if checking to see if her nail polish was chipped.

“If I am honest, I do not care much for Odelia Blight.” Lilith commented, causing the teen and the illusion to look at her again. “Even by the standards of the Emperor’s Coven she, and Alador, are rather stiff and obsessed with appearances.”

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	13. Lastly

In the Human World:  
Lastly:

Special thanks to all reviewers for keeping me motivated these last 3 months.

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Amity rarely found it hard to focus on class. She strove for Top Student because it seemed the only way to make her parents express anything close to pride in her, but she loved learning just because it was learning. She liked a challenge, she enjoyed learning new spells (even if the twins teased her about the training wand). As early as her first morning class on Friday she found herself restless in her seat. She’d spent most of her waking hours since returning getting caught up on what she’d missed, but now her mind wanted badly to skip ahead a few hours. She focused, mostly, by sheer will power as the professors all seemed to drone on throughout the day.

Lunch with Willow and Gus had at least been a welcome break from the mental effort. Gus filled the conversation for all three of them, babbling about all the human objects he hoped to see. Willow smiled indulgently at her younger friend, agreeing now and then but mostly listening to his excitement. Amity finished her lunch and began to doodle in a small sketch book. She set out to draw Azura, instead she drew Luzra. With an amused smile, she simply added a sketch of herself in a matching costume to the drawing. Willow peaked over her shoulder and complemented the drawing shortly before the bell screamed at the end of lunch.

By the time Amity reached her locker Friday afternoon, she found the twins and Viney waiting for her there. Amity gave them a suspicious look, before opening her locker to retrieve the small overnight bag she had stowed there this morning. She had not needed to pack much, there were still clothes for her at Luz’s house after all. The youngest Blight looked at the three upperclassmen again as she shut her locker.

“We’re walking with you.” Emira said, slipping her arm through Viney’s as they all started down the hallway together.

“Where are Willow and Gus?” Viney asked.

“I’m meeting them in front of school.” Amity looked at Viney, and her tone filled with suspicion. “Are the twins planning to prank me?”

“No.” Viney smiled as both Edric and Emira acted scandalized that Amity would even ask. “Actually, we need to talk to Eda and Lilith, plus Mittens 2.0 is at the Owl House.”

“How long has she been there?”

“Since that day you came back to school.” Edric answered with a shrug. “Just her, Lilith, and Hooty.”

“Why would you do that to your masterpiece?” Amity asked and Viney laughed at the surprised look the twins shared.

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“How are you this good?” Luz asked as she watched Mittens 2.0 beat Eda at another game of Hexas Hold’em. “Who taught you to play?”

“Edric, then I arrived here, and Madam Lilith started teaching me.” The illusion clone watched Eda glare at a smirking Lilith.

“You have done very well, 2.0.” Lilith told the clone before looking directly at Eda. “You deserve every loss she serves you for trying to leave me alone with the infernal house demon.”

“Well you. . .” Eda didn’t finish what she was about to say as Hooty slammed the door open violently.

“Guests!!!” Hooty basically bellowed causing all those gathered in the living room to wince. Willow, Gus, Amity, Edric, Emira, and Viney stepped inside, and Amity slammed the door closed as Willow and Gus rushed over to hug Luz.

“You’re here!” Willow exclaimed as the three shared a group hug.

“We thought you were meeting us in your world.” Gus said before they broke the hug.

“Surprise!” Luz said, pulling some confetti from her pockets and making her two friends laugh. She shifted her eyes to the others, waved a quick hello to the older Hexside students, and then spotted Amity standing a bit to the side. “Ami!”

Amity braced herself as Luz practically slammed into her as she rushed to pull the other girl into a tight hug. She blushed, feeling a bit self-conscious knowing the whole room was watching them, but tightened her own arms around Luz regardless. Willow gave Amity a thumbs up and turned to distract the others. The green-haired witch gratefully turned her own attention fully to Luz.

“I missed you so much.” Luz whispered to her.

“I missed you too.”

“Viney won, pay up.” Edric’s voice interrupted the touching moment and caused them both to turn to watch Lilith and Eda counting out snails to hand to Viney.

“What did you bet on?” Amity growled at them and the twins turned to give her identical, playful, innocent looks. “Ed, Em, what did you bet on?”

“They started a betting pool on if you’d woman up and tell Luz how you feel.” Eda said as she passed snails to Viney, before patting the Duel Track student on the head. “Congrats on your win.”

“Wait, who bet what exactly?” Luz asked, confusion and curiosity filling her tone.

“And how many of you were involved?” Amity’s voice was more suspicious than her girlfriend’s. She glanced about and saw that both Willow and Gus were steadfastly shaking their heads no. Mittens 2.0 and King were just watching the conversation, as King chuckled.

“Viney bet you two would officially be a couple and have been on at least one date by the time you came back.” Edric provided as he read from the notes he had taken about the bet. “Eda thought you’d confess but not act on it. Lilith thought neither of you would have said anything and that Luz still wouldn’t have noticed.”

“And what were your bets?” Amity gave her siblings a dangerous look and they looked away from her.

“So, how was your trip Eda?” Emira tried to divert their attention and it backfired.

“Oh, it was fine.” She grinned evilly at the twins. “Boy twin said neither of you would confess and that Little Blight can’t think straight around Luz. Girl twin thought Luz would figure it out but that you two wouldn’t do anything about it yet.”

“Why would you tell her?” Edric asked in a betrayed tone as Emira tried to hide behind Viney. Amity started to stalk toward her siblings, no one was sure what she intended to do, but Luz grabbed her arm and held her back. Amity turned her gold eyes back to her girlfriend, who moved closer and gave Amity a shy peck on the lips.

“Cut them some slack, Ami, it’s kind of funny.” Luz told her and everyone watched the youngest Blight defuse under Luz’s attention. Amity mumbled something too quietly for anyone other than Luz to hear, and the Latina leaned closer to whisper something back in Amity’s ear.

“Awwwww!” The Blight twins started cooing at the two, causing Amity to twitch and take to ignoring them entirely.

“I think the cute banter actually got worse.” Eda commented with an expression of mock disgust and Lilith slapped her arm.

“Can we go now?” Gus grinned when they looked at him. He was restlessly fidgeting. “Human World.” He elaborated as if that explained life itself.

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“This is amazing!” Gus was clearly in pure, unadulterated joy as he fiddled with a fidget cube. They were sitting in Luz’s room; Gus was on the floor surrounded by random objects of all kinds and a notepad. When Camila had seen Gus’s reaction to things the humans took for granted, she had gathered a box of assorted objects and handed them to the gleeful young witch. “And this!” Now he held a penlight, marveling at the tiny beam of light it produced.

Luz was teaching Amity and Willow Jenga at the small desk in her room. Every so often she would turn to answer a question from Gus, then return her focus to the game. Luz played with her left hand, having captured Amity’s hand with her right. Willow seemed to have the advantage out of the three, as she was the only one fully focused on her task. It surprised no one when Amity lost, toppling the tower suddenly when Luz distracted her. Willow giggled at her friends, before pulling her scroll and managing to get a picture of Luz giving Amity a consolatory hug.

Amity Blight realized, a few hours later, that she really should have seen how cuddly Luz would be coming. Luz was not shy about hugging her friends, and now she was extremely attached to her girlfriend. The green-haired witch could not stop smiling, and frankly blushing, as the Latina gave her so much attention. When they had passed through the portal, they had done so with their fingers intertwined. When the four had played a few human board games earlier, Luz had spent the time between turns resting her head on Amity. Now as they were all settled in, watching a movie, Amity was not even sure what movie they were watching.

The four teens were gathered on the couch, Willow at one end, Gus in the middle, and Luz and Amity at the other end. Luz had playfully lifted Amity’s arm and leaned into her side at the start of the movie. Amity’s arm had wrapped around the other girl’s shoulders without her really willing it to, but she had no complaints about that. As they watched the movie, Luz would turn to whisper in Amity’s ear about one thing or another. The witch prayed to the Titan Luz didn’t ask her for any response beyond a sort of hum, because she was a bit overwhelmed by having her so close for so long. Amity was just overwhelmed with contentment at the moment. She vaguely heard Camila call, and thought she heard her girlfriend’s name, but she really did not catch what was said.

“Stay right here, mi corazón, I’ll be back soon.” Luz whispered into her ear, before Amity felt a light peck against that same ear. Her gold eyes followed the human teen who bounded from the room cheerfully. She snapped out of her stupor when a piece of popcorn bounced off her head. She turned to look to the other side of the couch, Gus was still fully focused on the human movie. Willow, on the other hand, was grinning at her and holding the bowl of popcorn she shared with Gus.

“Oh wow, sports.” Willow silently mouthed and Amity giggled quietly. The green-haired witch gave a helpless shrug and turned her eyes toward the movie.

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“Luz, come help me in the kitchen, mija.” Camila called and Luz smiled at her friends. She whispered something and pecked Amity on the ear, before bounding away to the kitchen, leaving the others to finish watching the movie.

“Okay, Mami, Luz has arrived!” She announced as she found her mother waiting by the sink. Camila nodded toward a dish towel.

“Come dry the dishes for me, I want to talk.” They worked quietly for a few moments, before the elder Noceda brought up what was on her mind. “I have been thinking about this school and the Boiling Isles.”

“You, you have?” The teen tried not to sound too hopeful as she accepted another dish and began drying it. She was making little stacks of dry plates, bowls, and silverware to the side. “Do you have more questions?”

“No, Cariño, creo que he preguntado lo que necesito saber. (No, Sweety, I think I’ve asked what I need to know.)” She let that sentence hang for a few moments. “No puedo ignorar tu necesidad de tener una educación humana. (I can’t ignore your need to have a human education.)” From the corner of her eye she noticed Luz’s shoulders sag a little. “I’ve looked into how and if it could be possible for you to complete high school if I let you go to Hexside.”

“Mami, I will do anything it takes.” The teen stopped drying, until her mother gently elbowed her arm. Luz bit her lip and returned to her task as they spoke.

“Cariño, I’m not sure you know how much work it will take to balance two educations. I can’t just let you not finish high school.” Camila kept her eyes on the remaining dishes. “Por lo tanto, si estás haciendo esto significa que los fines de semana, tendrás que volver a casa y trabajar más duro en la educación en línea, así como durante el verano. (So, if you’re doing this it means on the weekends, you’ll need to come home and work extra hard on online schooling, as well as over the summer.)”

“Really?” She asked in a thunderstruck tone, staring slack jawed at her mother’s profile as the elder Noceda nodded.

“Yes, I found an accredited online high school that should work, but it will be a lot of work and you’ll need your summers to keep up with credits.” Camila let out a huff of air as Luz suddenly squeezed her in a tight hug. The teen was squealing and speaking incomprehensively in her excitement. Three heads soon poked through the doorway. Green, brown and gold eyes gazed at them with curiosity as Luz broke her hug to dance happily in the center of the kitchen.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Luz danced over to the door, tugged Amity into the room with them, and started dancing some sort of waltz with her around the kitchen.

“Luz, what happened?” The green-haired teen managed to stop Luz, holding her at arm’s length and locking their eyes on each other. Amity was blushing so red she looked like a living stop sign.

“I can go back to Hexside!” Luz exclaimed, throwing her arms around Amity and pulling her into a tight hug. It only took a few seconds for Gus and Willow to come hug the two, turning it into a group hug. Camila was forgotten for the moment and took the chance to record the moment on her camera phone.

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“Mrs. Noceda?” Amity asked softly, standing nervously in the open door of Camila’s room. Camila looked up from the book she had been reading and offered the teen a kind smile. Amity glanced over her shoulder, and almost whispered. “Can I talk to you privately?”

“Come in, dear, and shut the door.” Camila set aside her book and moved so she was sitting on the edge of her bed. She patted a space beside her and watched the extremely nervous girl sit down. “Amity, please take a deep, slow breath. You look ready to faint, mija.”

“Uh.” Amity’s knee bounced, but she shut her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and repeating the process a few times. She felt Camila gently rub her shoulders, and the comforting gesture helped ease her nerves a bit.

“Did that help?” The human woman asked, seeming to notice that Amity no longer seemed as tense as she had been moments before. She was still nervous, but not overwhelmingly so.

“Yes.” She shyly admitted, glancing over with a weak smile. Camila grinned back, and the teen chewed her lip for a moment. Finally, she straightened up where she sat and spoke with as much confidence as she could. “I really, really care about Luz.”

“I can see that dear.” Camila said it kindly, which helped Amity feel less panic.

“You know that we want to date, I mean we sort of are dating.” Amity felt her panic increase a bit again, but Camila patted her shoulder and it helped. When she spoke though, it came out in a jumble. “CanIhaveyourpermissiontodateyourdaughterplease?I thinkImightbefallinginlovewithher!”

“Amity.” Camila’s tone was calming, but the girl’s pointed ears twitched. She was almost certain there was a hint of laughter in the elder Noceda’s voice. “Dear, I am going to need you to say that at least half as quickly as you just did.”

“I. . .” She took a few more calming breaths. “Can I, I mean I wanted to know if you’ll give your permission for Luz and I to date. I really care about her, and I want to do things right.”

“Amity, Luz doesn’t need my permission to date you.” Camila had a playful look on her face. “Unless she gets grounded, then she needs my permission for pretty much everything.” She joked as she moved and hugged Amity to her side. “But since this is so important to you, of course you two have my permission.”

“Thank you.” The teen felt almost lightheaded from her relief.

“I want to tell you something.” Camila’s voice was very warm as she spoke. “I want to make it clear; you are always welcome in this house. Even if you just need to come talk, you tell Eda to open that portal and send you through.”

“Thank you.” Amity really did not know how to respond to that.

“Now, how did you manage to shake Luz long enough to come talk?”

“I told her I was going to the bathroom and Willow distracted her, so she didn’t see me go the other way.” Amity admitted and they shared a laugh.

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Blight Manor felt too quiet, and too large in the days after Odalia and Alador returned. Amity and the twins would walk home together each day, and then congregate in one of the siblings’ rooms. It took over a week before Alador and Odalia called for Amity, and instead all three siblings entered their parents’ home office. Alador frowned at the unexpected audience, and Odalia told the twins they were not needed.

“Yes.” Edric said in a falsely cheerful tone.

“We are.” Emira finished. They stood on either side of their sister and just a touch behind her, supporting their younger sibling.

“Very well.” Alador said with only a slight hesitation. He focused his brown eyes on his youngest child. “Your recent progress report showed acceptable improvement, especially in the absence of your former tutor.”

“Thank you, Father.” Amity responded calmly and in the exact manner expected of her. Her parents practically had a script they wished their children to adhere to. Most times they spoke at their children, rather than to them. Occasionally they would ask the siblings to explain something, otherwise they expected little to be said in return.

“We are concerned, however, to hear that you have chosen to continue associating with that human.” Odalia’s displeasure was clear in both her tone and her expression. “We were very clear that you are not to continue associating with that creature.”

“I am still associating with Luz, and I have no intention to stop associating with her.” Amity told them, keeping her head held high and her expression determined.

“Amity, darling. . .” Odalia folded her hands primly as Amity verbally cut her off.

“No, Mother, I will not back down this time. If you threaten her, or try to prevent me from seeing her, or anyone else, I see no reason to continue striving to live up to your expectations.” Her gold eyes did not miss how both her parents stiffened. She almost felt her siblings shift just a bit closer on either side of her. They had discussed this before their parents had returned from their mysterious trip.

“Amity.” Alador stood from where he had been sitting behind his desk and directed a stern glare toward his daughter. “So long as you live under this roof you will do as we say.”

“I can, and will, go elsewhere.” She replied and saw her father’s eyebrows tick slightly upwards.

“To be clear.” Edric spoke as he crossed his arms.

“If she leaves, we all leave.” Emira informed them as she mirrored her brother’s stance.

“And we can be ever so attention getting.” Edric reminded their parents.

“You will do no such thing.” Odalia was so angry by this point she was shaking slightly where she stood. She did not normally tolerate any form of disagreement from her children.

“Odalia, dear, perhaps we are being rash.” Alador’s words surprised all four of the other Blights in the office. Eight golden eyes turned to watch him as he brushed non-existent wrinkles from his coat. He focused entirely on Amity, his brown eyes locking with the youngest Blight’s eyes. “You may continue to choose who you will associate with, so long as your status as Top Student remains intact. If you lose your place as top of your track, you will go to school and to a tutor with no social concerns whatsoever. Am I understood, young lady?”

“Yes, Father.” Amity did not dare let her relief leak into her face or voice.

“I believe all three of you have other things to attend to.” Alador said and the teens did not hesitate to leave, closing the door behind them. Alador resumed his seat, as his wife stared at him.

“Why would you allow her to associate with the human?” Odalia asked in a cold tone. “The human is beneath any of us.”

“She isn’t a little girl anymore; we cannot always make her choices for her.”

“That does not mean we should allow her to consort with criminals.”

“She will tire of the human in time, and we will have avoided an embarrassing scene made by all three of our children.”

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The clearing in which the Owl House rested was calm today. A gentle breeze blew through occasionally, pushing along a dry leaf on the ground. Edric, Emira, Lilith, and Mittens 2.0 gathered near the back door.

“Are you sure we should do this? It seems wrong.” Edric said, looking sad as he shifted his gaze between the advanced illusion clone and the two witches beside him.

“Be reasonable, Edric, we cannot continue to have two Amity Blights running about the Isles.” Lilith reminded him, and both twins sighed.

“Are you ready, Mittens 2.0?” Emira asked the clone in a kind voice.

“Ready.” The clone agreed and crossed her arms as she waited. The twins exchanged a quick look, before they shifted to stand closer together. They drew a large circle between the two of them, and soon a large puff of smoke engulfed the clone and the space around her. They stood there silently as the smoke hung in the air, waiting for a new breeze to blow it away.

“This really is for the best.” Lilith assured them, though neither looked convinced.

“We know.” Edric said with a frown, as a gust of wind finally swept the slowly dissipating smoke out over the cliff side.

“You know, it’s actually a good look.” Emira commented as the figure in the smoke was revealed again. A figure stood there, waving the last traces of smoke away from her face. The figure still bore Amity’s facial features, and her height and build, however there were differences now. Her black hair was braided, coming to rest halfway down her back, cool gray eyes watched them beneath dark bangs, and her skin was now a few shades darker giving her a very slight tan. She would not be mistaken for Amity anymore, though she might be mistaken for a cousin.

“We really can’t call you Mittens 2.0 anymore.” Edric commented, rubbing his chin as he considered that thought in his mind.

“If I might make a suggestion, perhaps we should call her Tracy.” Lilith’s comment caused the twins to look to her with raised brows.

“Why Tracy?” Emira asked with a tilt of her head.

“Because I am a trace of who I once was.” The illusion clone actually smiled as she nodded. “I think I like it.”

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Author’s Note:

Though this is the end of this story I’ve decided to turn this into a series of stories. If you’d like to catch future updates as they are posted please subscribe to author alerts, follow the series (this story has been added to it), or follow me on Twitter @Dayfiction83 . I post the links on Twitter every time I add a new chapter to a story.

Also, I welcome suggestions so if you have a prompt that you’d like to see me try send me a message.


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